Not able to hunt again this year I posted on a few hunting boards and got some really nice feathers. I spent 2 hours sorting through the second batch and got them all set up for washing. My cleaning solution is 1/3 cup borax and 2 squirts of Dawn foaming dishwasher liquid soap. This combo is what I've been using for 2 years and it works nice.
Gadwall and Mallard Flank all set to wash
I tell you the guys when they plucked they got the really nice big feathers too!!!!!!!
Once they're washed and most of the water is out of them, they go into an old pillowcase and get 5 minutes of heated drying and 20 minutes of air drying and it works nice.
Nice gallon size ziplock bag packed full with Gadwall
Gallon bag only 3/4ths full of Mallard Flank as I used some for trying my first time dyeing feathers.
I got some PAS Easter Egg dying packs in the Neon colors and I tried pink, purple and green - well the tabs for pink and purple must have gotten mixed as they both turned out the same pink color. For some reason the green took to the stem but the color washed right out!!
Here's the pink and it gave me a nice big gallon bag.
Have the green batch that washed out in the blue dye and we'll see how that one works. I'm going to pick up some unsweetened kool aid tomorrow.
Thanks I took the feathers that the green washed out of and put them in blue overnight and the color washed right out of them!!! Found instructions for the RIT liquid dyes and you don't have to use vinegar so I'm going to pick up a couple of colors and see what happens!!!
I think you'd need the heavier RIT or Jacquard dyes to do bucktails but some guys have done them according to the articles I've seen on the web. Not that brave yet!!!LOL
