Prepare feathers by washing in hot water and soap thoroughly, and
afterwards rinse in about four hot waters to remove every particle of
soap and dirt; after which prepare bath as follows: Take one gallon
of water about 200° Fah.; dilute therein half a teaspoonful of Violet
3 B., stirring it around thoroughly to dissolve every particle. Enter
your feathers and let remain about five minutes; after which take out
and pour out the bath, reserving some, and cooling it off with cold,
clean water, add a small handful of starch and pass feathers through,
first cooling them off by shaking them in the air; rub them between the
hands in starch bath to aid the flue or fibre to expand; after which
squeeze out and rub thoroughly between the hands, and beat out on a
clean board until every particle of starch has been removed. Should you
find the top or tips a darker shade than the bottom, or should they
bronze or assume a metallic appearance, pass feathers through a bowl
of boiling water with a small pinch of soda added, and rinse; after
which pass through a new starch bath with a few drops of diluted violet
added; take out and dry.