Prepare feathers by washing and rinsing thoroughly if dirty greasy
whites, or bleach with permanganate of potash if faded out light
colors. Prepare your bath as follows: Take one gallon of luke warm
water and dilute therein a small handful of starch, and rub your
feathers around between the hands. Add about a half teaspoonful of
turmeric and dilute well in bath. Enter your feathers and rub around
well between the hands. Increase the temperature of your bath by adding
hot water, and allow your feathers to remain in bath about one minute;
then take them out and add a couple of drops of diluted aniline brown;
re-enter feathers and let them remain in bath about one minute longer;
then squeeze out and dry as usual.
If your shade to match be considerably on the yellow shade, use very
little aniline brown, about one drop, and if more on the brown, use
less turmeric. If your color be entirely too dark and dull looking,
dilute half a teaspoonful of oxalic acid, and pass feathers through
for a few seconds and rinse off in luke warm water. Prepare a fresh
bath and enter your feathers, as per recipe; or, if wanted a very
bright shade, wash off with soap and hot water, and rinse thoroughly
in hot water. Then prepare a bath of one teaspoonful of turmeric, one
teaspoonful of oxalic acid and one teaspoonful of diluted Bismarck
brown in a gallon of luke warm water. Enter your feathers and keep in
bath about two minutes, add a little starch to bath, and pass feathers
through for a few seconds longer, squeeze out and dry in the usual way.