Your first step appears to be the freezer? Every feather no matter where I got it from gets six weeks in the Freezer. I once had an infestation of Carpet Beetles many years ago and I came up with a feather treatment protocol. Thanks for sharing your method!
I harvested feathers today for the first time and immediately put them in some water with borax. So they’re in a bucket. Can I dry them best as possible today and freeze them if they’re still damp later?
Hey Robbie great video on treating feathers. I have a question and think you may be able to help me. I have a large selection of fly tying materials. Unfortunately, carpet beetles got into our house. I was going to clean all my fly tying materials and was thinking of using your method. Would your treatment kill carpet beetles eggs? Would it affect the colour of materials and wash out some of the dye? Richie
Hi Richie, I’m afraid this is not something I have ever experienced, sorry to hear all your materials have been infested. the treatment would leech out the colour of dyed feathers and fur if left soaking for too long, the key is to continuously check any dyed materials, I think you may need a more harder treatment, for carpet Beatles as this insect isn’t something that is commonly found on live wild animals or birds, they are always and introduced infestation. I would suggest a concentrated mix of borax and hot water ideally over 40, 45 degrees Celsius,and soak any feathers or fur, get a good can of insecticide like I have in the video, there are some good sprays for carpet Beatles. Periodically I spray all my materials and seal them away again. How do you store your materials, i store all my materials in zip lock bags. I ensure that when I am finished they get sealed away immediately. I never leave my materials out or exposed. And for good practice I never mix harvested feathers & fur with material I buy even though I do thoroughly treat every thing, I store them separately
Small fur animals like rabbits, squirrels could be treated the same way. Once you have soaked the fur the dry thoroughly and preserve using borax. Bigger fur animals like fox need more to use different methods and chemicals to preserve. Small patches of fur could be salted using a mix of salt and alum
