#feather cleaning

[poopy-pants-gremlin]

How do you clean a wild bird feather?

Some places are telling me I need to use moth balls (which I've never seen for sale in UK) and then rubbing alcohol and hydrogen peroxide

Some places are saying to just chuck it in a bucket and freeze it

Some places say to was with dish soap, other places say under no circumstances to wash a feather with soap.

What do I do? I've never kept a feather I've found and I've grown up with being told not to touch them so I want to make sure I clean it properly, but I also don't want to damage it.

Edit: apparently we do have moth balls in the UK but they aren't the same as in America because the pesticides used are banned, if I double bagged it and put it in the freezer for a while would that do the job? And then clean it?

[dontlickdatoad]

If yous are gonna use a wild feather in your craft (religious, magical, or mundane) PLEASE make sure it's not protected under law and PLEASE properly clean it before using it.

I've seen three different posts in the last week or two that mention wild feathers with no comment on regulations or sanitation and my college Wildlife Management and Conservation days are flashing before my eyes.

[crimsonrose95]

I know this is weird but I need help and Google didn't work

Does anyone here know how to clean soft textured feathers like you see in feather dusters? I have two porcelain doll masks that have feathers on them and I don't know how to safely clean them without making the feathers shed. They have a lot of dust on them because they stay on my wall most of the time and I'm too ill most days to clean them.

[robin-of-the-willows]

Things you might not have known

Blue jays use a technique called “anting” to clean their feathers. It involves literally rubbing ANTS or similar insects on their feathers and skin to clean out debris and the like.

[shadyufo]

How do you clean feathers so they're safe to handle and bring inside?

It’s a good idea to stick them in a bag and freeze them for a few days to kill off any mites or other critters that might be present. Best way to do this actually is to freeze them for a week or so, then take them out and set them in the sun for a couple of days, then stick them back in the freezer for a few more days so incase there are any mite eggs present you’ll kill those too. 

I also give them a bath in warm, soapy water and then dry them off. Big wing and tail feathers have to air dry but downy body feathers can be put in a pillow case, tied up, and tossed into a dryer set on low heat/delicates to dry and fluff them back up. 

I just washed a few hundred of my chickens’ molted feathers the other day as a matter of fact! A bath tub full, haha. Pardon the cruddy shot.

Hope that helps! Good luck!