Dry-starching.—After the dyed feathers have been thoroughly rinsed, they should be partially dried, by wiping with a soft piece of cloth, like a handkerchief or piece of cheesecloth, and then laid flat on a piece of stiff paper and covered with a heaping tablespoonful or so of dry, finely powdered starch (on a small scale the quality known as “Electric Starch” is eminently satisfactory). The starch is thoroughly rubbed into the feather with the fingers, and then the feather, full of starch, is beaten and dusted against the edge of the table or the back of the hand until the starch has all been shaken out. After one or two repetitions of this process, the feather will be found not only dry but with the barbules properly filled out. Sometimes the feather, thus treated, has a woolly look, the starching process having gone too far. In this case it should be dampened in cold water, and restarched.
Under no circumstances should any starch paste be allowed to touch or form on the flues. The starching must be done in the cold and with the unbroken starch grains.
Wet-starching.—Some dyers prefer wet-starching to the dry process just described. In this process, the feathers, after dyeing and rinsing, are worked for a minute or two in a thick milk (not paste) made by stirring one or two large tablespoonfuls of dry starch in half a pint or so of cold water, till all the lumps have been broken up. After this milk has been thoroughly rubbed into every part of the feather, the latter is taken out, dried roughly by wiping with cheesecloth, and then by wrapping between blotting paper or folded cheesecloth and running carefully through a not too tight wringer. The feather is then taken out and thoroughly dried, either by laying it on the table in the sunlight or in a warm room for some time, or, if very great care is taken, by holding and moving it over a hot-air register, or high over the stove or gas flame. Of course, if this is done carelessly and too great heat is applied, some of the starch grains will be converted into paste, and the feather probably ruined. When thoroughly dry, “bone dry,” as the dyers call it, the feather is beaten against the back of the hand, or edge of the table until all the starch is shaken out.
Dyeing in the Starch.—When dyeing light shades time may be saved by dyeing and wet-starching at the same time, in the same bath. The feather, thoroughly soaked in hot water, is placed in the starch milk, to which a quarter teaspoonful or so of formic acid and a little dyestuff have been added, and then worked, in the cold, until the proper shade has been reached, the starch being taken up at the same time. Then on drying and beating, the feather will come out both dyed and finished. This has the disadvantage of leaving a little acid in the finished feather, but when using small quantities of oxalic acid, this is of little, if any importance.
Suggestions as to Feather Dyeing.—These processes should enable any intelligent craftsman to dye even the most costly and most delicate feathers without danger of spoiling them. Shade effects in one, two, or more colors can be easily obtained by the use of a little ingenuity, remembering always that the quill and the stem are very much more difficult to dye than the flues or tip. It will be remembered that comparatively few ostrich feathers are now used, singly; the plumes so abundantly in use, nowadays, being almost invariably built up by sewing two or usually three feathers together, one underneath the other, the stem being carefully shaved down so as not to make them too clumsy.
Very charming effects can be obtained by dyeing the individual feathers different but harmonious colors, and then combining them into one plume later. But, usually, the plume is made first, and then dyed afterwards. It may be suggested, here, that very beautiful effects can be produced by taking large, handsome, single feathers, before they are bleached, and dyeing them a pleasant shade of red or blue or of some mixed color. The natural black of the feather, with its irregular markings, often gives very interesting results, and the expense is much less than that of a built-up feather.
After the starching process, the dried feather is usually finished by “curling,” a process simple enough in itself, but which had best be left to the professional, for fear of injury. The bleaching of feathers, also, is a process which is hardly to be attempted by the amateur, unless he is prepared to spend a good deal of his time and money in experimenting. The process, however, is well understood by dyeing chemists and can be learned without much difficulty, by a careful student with some knowledge of chemistry.
Stripping Feathers.—By soaking in warm water, containing a teaspoonful or so of ammonia water to the pint, and then carefully washing with soap and hot water, these Acid colors can be, as a rule, stripped from feathers almost entirely. This does not, to be sure, improve the original quality of the goods, but, carefully done, its bad effects are hardly, if at all, perceptible, and it enables the dyer to remedy a bad piece of dyeing, or to dye an old feather that has become faded or discolored by exposure. This, of course, does not apply toblack dyed feathers.
After white feathers have been worn for some time they generally become soiled and yellow. If the stock was good to start with they can be immensely improved in appearance, if not made quite equal to new, by simply scrubbing them with a piece of Castile soap, in hot water, and then, after thorough rinsing, by dyeing them, in the starch-bath, with a very faint trace of blue or bluish violet.
Black Dyeing of Feathers.—This is the most difficult process in feather dyeing, and, as a rule, should be avoided by the amateur. It is impossible, so far, to get a thoroughly good black by the use of any artificial dyestuff, or any simple process. The best Acid blacks on the market, dyed with the greatest care, give a color to feathers that by themselves may look pretty well, but, when compared with first-class products, show dull and grey.