How to clean and refresh scruffy feathers

At the moment a lot of birds are moulting - crows and water fowl for example. I found these feathers on the beach. They look quite good, but the swell messed them up.

It may happen very often you find feathers of wonderful or rare birds which unfortunately are messed up of wind and weather. No reason to be sad, because with only little care necessary you can refresh your unkempt feather. You can find the whole tutorial under the cut. Enjoy!


Before you begin to clean your feather you should check it out if the feather has some parasites. Most of the feathers don’t have anything, but sometimes they have acarians. Those creatures are pretty though, so you put your feather better in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer for some month.


If the feather looks “clean” you could put it in a water bath. For this you fill a wash-bowl or the sink with lukewarm water. Add a bit of shampoo in the water as well. Now pull your feather trough the water and with your fingers remove big dirt stains.

After the bath, when the feather is clean, take your hairdryer and dry the feather softly. Never use the full heating power of the hairdryer or your feather goes scruffy again. While you dry the feather use your finger and bring the feather in its shape, like you comb your hair. Be careful as it may need some practise.

And voilà, your feather looks in near mint condition! But don’t expect wonders with very worn-down feathers as they lay around in a forest since weeks or months (yes, feathers are tough and very firm!). But with these easy steps you can save a lot of messy-looking feathers.

Gull feathers. The three little ones are from a juvenile gull.

Once your feather is cleaned and dry, spray some hair-fixing spray or insect spray over it.
I hope, this tutorial will help you :)