Wash and rinse your feathers thoroughly if dirty whites; if old faded
out light colors, bleach with permanganate of potash; after which
prepare bath as follows: One gallon of luke warm water and a handful
of starch; enter your feathers and rub around between the hands for a
few seconds; then add to bath a teaspoonful of oxalic acid, and dilute
about a tablespoonful of turmeric in a small quantity of water, and add
a few drops of the liquor to the bath; re-enter your feathers and let
them remain in about one minute or so; after which take them out and
add a drop of diluted indigo blue; return feathers to bath and allow
them to remain about one minute longer in bath, after which take out,
squeeze and dry usual.
If a deep rich shade be desired, and you have no sample to match, use
no indigo in the bath. Another excellent method of making lemon is
to substitute an equal amount of picric acid for turmeric; and, should
you find your color entirely too dark for your sample, rinse off your
feathers in luke warm water, and proceed to wash with soap and hot
water, and rinse thoroughly in boiling water; then prepare a fresh bath
as per recipe, and enter your feathers, using much care. If found too
light for your sample, add to bath a little more turmeric liquor, and
return feathers to bath for a few seconds longer, and dry.