Re: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} Pheasant wing treatment

+1 on borax. It works for animal skins too. 

Also, a few freeze thaw cycles.  Freeze for a week, thaw for a week.  any insect eggs hatch when it's warm.  The freeze then kills the larva (before they can lay eggs).  Repeating this cycle gets rid of the bugs, but still keep them in a bag separate from your other material.  You wouldn't want to get bugs in your saddle hackle.

I don't microwave feathers, But I will microwave animal skins to render some of the fat out and get the borax to work better.  For oily skins, I will brush off the borax and put a fresh layer on to make sure it is really dried. out.

On Thu, Jan 15, 2015 at 7:56 AM, Tom T <tom.trentman@gmail.com> wrote:

The best way to treat them is to buy some Borax and pour a bunch in the bag.  Once anything fleshy looks completely dried out, you can dump out the borax and the wings will be good to go.  Borax is found in the laundry section and comes as a box of powder under the "20 mule Team" brand.  You won't find it at CVS, but a large grocery store, walmart, or target should have it.

Borax dries skin hard as a rock, so if you ever get a skin, rather than just wings, you might just want to lay it out on a piece of cardboard.  The cardboard will pull all the moisture out and preserve the skin.

Hope that helps,

Tom

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