Cleaning dusty feathers, a technique that works

Until recently, dusty white feathers on a taxidermy bird were a problem, often ignored. They involved washing, layer by layer to prevent cross contamination, using conservation grade detergent, deionised water and a hairdryer. The result was never that satisfactory since the acidic dust linked with the feather protein resulting, after the hard work, in a pale grey bird. Laser cleaning is good but expensive and will only clean off the external layer of dust contamination. Using a document cleaning powder (used in paper conservation), a technique for cleaning bird feathers and neutralising acidic staining has been successfully developed.