Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Arrows => Topic started by: Prarie Bowyer on October 21, 2012, 01:47:18 am

Title: Bleaching feathers?
Post by: Prarie Bowyer on October 21, 2012, 01:47:18 am

How is it possible to belach a feather white?  I have some black goose feathers and I'd like to make them speckled.  I'm thinking it might be neat to sprinkle them with a bleaching agent.... but what?

Title: Re: Bleaching feathers?
Post by: turtle on October 21, 2012, 02:20:00 am

Never tried it yet but i did research it before. Seems that hair bleaching kits work best on feathers.

Title: Re: Bleaching feathers?
Post by: JW_Halverson on October 21, 2012, 05:50:09 pm

I've tried using diluted laundry bleach (chlorine based) and failed miserably.  Not sure how Peroxide based beauty products may work.  Post your results, please!

Title: Re: Bleaching feathers?
Post by: JEB on October 22, 2012, 10:41:50 am

bleach ruins about everything it touches.  I went down and put some 40% peroxide on a goose feather. Will  post the results for you later.

Title: Re: Bleaching feathers?
Post by: JW_Halverson on October 22, 2012, 04:02:06 pm

Thanks JEB.  I appreciate you risking your feathers so we all can learn!   >:D

Title: Re: Bleaching feathers?
Post by: osage outlaw on October 23, 2012, 10:38:08 pm

I've tried using the peroxide gel that I use for skull mounts.  It didn't do anything.  I left it over night.

Title: Re: Bleaching feathers?
Post by: Prarie Bowyer on October 24, 2012, 12:17:44 am

Oh well.  I'll ned to find some ginuea foul feathers :-)

Title: Re: Bleaching feathers?
Post by: Tom Leemans on October 26, 2012, 12:11:41 pm

People hand paint artwork on feathers all the time. Time consuming? yes, but you could control how it ends up.

Title: Re: Bleaching feathers?
Post by: Stoker on October 26, 2012, 12:47:11 pm

Never whitined feathers with peroxide. Mostly bone and horn. It seems to work best in a rather stiff solution and warm. I use a pot and my camp stove on low simmer. Making sure the feathers are split first.
Thanks Leroy

Title: Re: Bleaching feathers?
Post by: gstoneberg on October 26, 2012, 07:33:39 pm

I always got my white feathers from my thanksgiving turkeys.  The butcher let me help butcher turkeys and I took all the primaries home.  Very hard work though.

George

Title: Re: Bleaching feathers?
Post by: Fred Arnold on October 26, 2012, 09:52:19 pm

I'll see if i can find pics although I may have deleted them. I tried spraying over the counter peroxide on wild turkey feathers. It turned them a reddish brown and seemed to dry up the natural oils. Wasn't happy with the results so I never pursued it any further.

Title: Re: Bleaching feathers?
Post by: Pat B on October 27, 2012, 05:00:53 pm

 It would probably be easier to add gray poka dots to a white feather than to bleach out spots on a gray feather.