How to Clean Feathers Used in Crafts

Because I’m Native American, I have several pieces of art and crafts that have hanging feathers on them. I’m a big fan of hanging feathers. I love how they look and how they can give a piece a really unique signature. However, feathers can be a real pain to clean. Unfortunately they do get gummed up with dust over time if they're not properly cared for. Read on for some steps to keep the feathers on your crafts and art clean.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A vacuum that blows as well as sucks
• A hair dryer
• A damp cloth
• A lot of patience

1. The first thing you want to do when cleaning the feathers on a craft piece is to blow any dust off of it. You can do this with a hair dryer or a vacuum that has the capability to blow as well as suck.

2. Take a cloth and get it wet and then ring it out very well. You don’t want any dripping water.

3. Carefully laying the hanging feather on your palm run the damp cloth over the feather. The idea is to pick up any stubborn dust or even dirt that the blower might have missed.

4. Repeat Step 3 until you feel that you have removed any dust and debris left over from the first swipe with the cloth, and the blower. Sometimes it takes more than one swipe, particularly if you haven’t been cleaning the feathers regularly.

5. Use a blow dryer to dry the feathers, but do so carefully. They won’t be that damp if you rung the cloth out well. You might even consider air drying them.

Tips & Warnings

• Never use the blower if you’re your vacuum is very close to the feathers. Plus, keep it on the lowest setting. If you use a high setting or get too close, you could actually blow the feathers off the craft piece. Then you’d have to repair it, as well.
• If a feather does come off, lay it aside until you are finished with the other feathers. With some glue, carefully re-attach it. Generally speaking, feathers are usually attached to a bead of some sort; so you should be able to put a little glue on the feather quill and then re-attach it to the inside of the bead.
• If your craft piece is one that hangs on the wall, as long as it is not too high for you to reach, leave it hanging. This will make cleaning the feathers much easier than if you take the piece down and try to lay it down somewhere and clean it. If it is high up on a wall, either get a chair or have another nail lower on the wall that you can hang it for cleaning.
• The heat from a hair dryer can be very hard on feathers; so keep it on the lowest setting. Don’t hold it too close to the feathers. If you do, your feathers will not last long and your piece will look old and ragged.
• If your pieces have fake eagle feathers which are usually goose feathers that have had some black paint put on at the top to make them look like eagle feathers, don’t run a damp cloth over the painted area because it could cause the paint to run. Also, forgo using a hair dryer and just use your blower for drying or air dry the feathers.

[Lakota99]

on 12/23/2008 Thank you again you have very nice articles but this one has been very helpful because i collect feathers and sometimes i worry, so i use your advice to clean them Awesome work

[Althaea]

on 8/12/2008 Great article!!!! I'm a newbie using feathers & this sure helped!