Can i dye feathers

The holiday is almost here and as I look at my list of feather crafts I want to make I notice one thing: I'm going to need a lot of feathers. Not just any feathers though, multi colored ones! With 80 assorted poultry is residence I have plenty of feathers it's just a matter of getting them the color I want.

You can let the feathers air dry naturally, or use a blow dryer set on low to dry them. I'm impatient, I dried mine. I used free range chicken and Guinea feathers but you can buy a big ole bag of white craft feathers and dye them also. Whatever you have will work. I tend to pick up every 'perfect' Guinea feather that I see laying on the ground so I always have a supply. Have fun with it. Make pretty colors! Best of all One of my favorite things to make is the mythical Jobberknoll feather from Fantastic Beasts book.

All the steps below are in the video, but its nice to have them written out as well. These are best when done with our Cushing Perfection Dye, but will work basically the same for any acid dye. Once dyed, feathers are quite harmless, but the dye can contain some heavy metals that you don't want to contaminate any food.

So take a trip down to your local thrift store to get the following before you start. Fill your stockpot with enough tap water to cover the feathers and give them room to move around. Heat it to about degrees, just below boiling. You can use a thermometer if you like, but the temp doesn't have to be exact. While its heating fill the 5 gallon bucket with enough water to cover your feathers and give them some room to move around. Pour in a tablespoon of dish soap dawn, ivory, etc and mix it up.

There should be a minimal amount of suds. Don't over do it on the soap. Put your feathers in and mix them around and let them soak until the water is hot. Before you get started, decide on a few colors and whether or not you want them very saturated bright color or subtle. This is a great learning discussion and experiment for the kids, by the way.

We were able to talk about dilution and color mixing with this activity, so it was a learning painting activity for the kids. This is such an easy way to learn to dye feathers with watercolor and stay away from harsh chemicals. Will you please pin this to your favorite crafts or painting board on Pinterest? Your shares are how this site grows and I am sincerely grateful.