[NHCOLL-L:1084] Re: bird taxidermy mount cleaning

[Steve Halford]

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