Advice for preventing feather spliting.

Hello ladies,

I'm wondering if anyone can offer tips for preserving feathers and how to prevent them from spliting.

Thank you,

Lisa

http://cherryontophats.wordpress.com/ 

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From the twittersphere...

Hi Lisa, Not sure if you are referring to splitting while stored or when curling feathers??

Feathermite is a problem with natural feathers but I have never had problems with dyed imported feathers being attacked as they are irradiated to come into the country. I had them attack feathers stored in a box on a shelf but never feathers in a drawer. Nicky's suggestion of lavender or even camphor is good deterrent. When using natural feathers be thorough washing hands after handling due to bird disease (sidicosis)

The trend today is to allow them to split when curling but if you need them to stay slick you could experiment with hairspray to make the threads stay together. -Elaine

Also - I have tried a fine aerosol hairspray on peacock feather eyes and was not pleased with the result. I am yet to try sealing with a matte acrylic spray but that is my next trial. :)

I attempted to store some of my pieces inside a container, with one moth ball sealed inside a plastic bag - the feathers absorbed the smell. Yuck. I then took a cotton ball and saturated it with lavender oil and sealed that inside a plastic bag along with my items. My feathers smell great and it does work to deter pests. Regardless of your choice, I thought I should mention that the feathers absorb the smells. :)

Thank you ladies. It is the peacock eyes in particular that I find difficult to keep slick. I'd thought about sealing the back of them with a light adhesive spray and some netting or a light weight fabric.

I know some people put their feathers in the micro wave oven to kill anything that may be alive. But try Krylon Matte Fixative and don't get carried away.  . Ely

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