[NHCOLL-L:1086] Re: bird taxidermy mount cleaning

[Murray Fletcher]

Of course you could just paint the bill red and call it a black swan (sorry -
couldn't help myself)

Murray

Steve Halford wrote:

> On Wed, 27 Jun 2001, Karen Idoine wrote:
>
> > I have a 30- 40 year old taxidermied swan that is in desperate need of
> > cleaning.  It has spent all or most of its life as a still life prop for
> > drawing classes, and the charcoal residue it has accumulated has caused
> > its feathers to turn nearly black.
> >
> > i have attempted to clean it many times, first trying vacuuming, dusting
> > & brushing.  In my last attempt i used a sponge, a weak solution of dish
> > detergent and water.  This removed most of the charcoal black color, but
> > left the feathers both matted down and badly yellowed.
> >
> > Any suggestions for returning this creature to somewhat better
> > condition?
> >
>
> Katy,
>
> In my experience the yellowing is usually just an optical effect of
> matted feathers -- once they have been fluffed up the yellow disappears.
>
> I re-fluff washed skins using a high-pressure air line.  I blow compressed
> air over the specimen *against* the lay of the feathers until the down
> puffs up.  With patience (for a swan, make that a LOT of patience!) the
> specimen eventually regains it's color and texture.  A final blow down
> *with* the lay of the feathers settles most of the feathers, and a bit of
> hand work on individual problems finishes the job.  (be thankful you don't
> have to re-create feather patterns on a swan!)
>
> HTH!
>
> Steve (halford at sfu.ca)
> Museum Technician
> Simon Fraser University
> Burnaby, B.C., Canada

--
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Dr Murray J. Fletcher
Senior Research Scientist
Agricultural Scientific Collections Unit
Orange Agricultural Institute
Orange NSW 2800
Australia

Phone: +61-2-63913943
Fax: +61-2-63913899
Email: murray.fletcher at agric.nsw.gov.au

ASCU Website: http://www.agric.nsw.gov.au/Hort/ascu
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