Quill Softening

[fritzer]

I recently saw a YOUTUBE where a tier soaks his quills in vegetable/mineral oil instead of water and keeps them in a plastic bag. Seems like a good idea as long as the quills don't remain unused too long. Anyone else do this? The tier didn't say anything about bonding effects when coating the fly body with UV or head cement. Comments? Thanks

 

[DrownedFish]

I'm not sure I'd even try considering a short soak in warm water works just fine. Both mineral and vegetable oil can go rancid under the right conditions. Not sure how that would effect the flies or others stored in the same box.

 

[BradFromPotter]

Add a bit of fabric softener to water to soak in.

 

[Tigereye]

Soak in undiluted hair conditioner overnight pror to tying, pat dry.

 

[nfrechet]

charlie craven recommended a swipe of vegetable oil prior to wrapping a stripped peacock quill

i wouldnt do an entire stripped peacock eye if only using a few herls

ive never had a problem using dry quills

 

[tomgamber]

Obviously it depends on the age of the quills. I hadcsone thst wrapped fine. Some were extremely brittle. I used water a few times but some were dyed and lost color fast. I like some of these suggestions. Been a while since I was that meticulous.

 

[lestrout]

Humidity is a factor too. In a northern winter climate, especially high altitude, quill, and for that matter, hair, does dry out and stiffen.