Canadian goose feathers- bleaching and dying

[PAPA VV 0]

HI

 

I am a newbie to the forum and to tying. I have a couple of questions about canadian goose wing feathers. I have a number of them provided by my hunting friends.

 

Question One. Can they be bleached, and how do I go about it???

 

Question Two. Can they then be dyed, and how do I go about that?????

 

Would appreciate any direct answers or sources of information, haven"t had too much luck searching the forum and googling

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

PAPA VV

 

LIKE I SAID I AM A NEWBIE AND NOT COMPUTER AND FORUM SAVVY, DON'T KNOW HOW TO GET RID OF THIS SECOND POST SORRY FOR THE ERROR

[skidoosh 0]

Probably the best book on the topic is Dyeing and Bleaching by A.K. Best. I have heard of guys bleaching with hair bleach that is painted on. The difficulty is if you have bulk feathers is matching a left and right to make them usable.

[oldsmuggler 0]

On my last trip to Canada I found a lot of these feathers... I thought were useless...

[bad fish rising 0]

they make great wingcases on nymphs just the way they are

i use a little fixative spray on them to help hold their shape while tying

[flytire 0]

heres an article on dyeing natural materials

 

http://www.beaucatcher.com/Fly_Tying_Notes...Tying_Materials

[Guest]

Do not bleach them, that will burn the barbules and hooklets. You can try using peroxide, but I really don't think it will do much good. Slate gray feathers can only be dyed darker, black for sure and maybe a very dark blue or purple. Dying feathers is easy if you use acid dyes specifically made for fly tying.

[PAPA VV 0]

Do not bleach them, that will burn the barbules and hooklets. You can try using peroxide, but I really don't think it will do much good. Slate gray feathers can only be dyed darker, black for sure and maybe a very dark blue or purple. Dying feathers is easy if you use acid dyes specifically made for fly tying.

 

 

Thanks for the info guys, Your quote above kicks my idea in the but. Was hoping to bleach the canadian goose feathers and then dye various colors for married wings parts. At this point in time I am a long ways from that as I am a very brand new tiweer.

 

Thanks again

 

PAPA VV