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Bleaching herl

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 7:27 am
by Mike62
Hopefully I've posted this in the right place. I'm looking to use bleached peacock herl as a body material but I need a little help in understanding the process of bleaching the herl without burning it off the quill. Thanks!

Re: Bleaching herl

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 8:02 am
by tie2fish
Mike ~ This topic would fit well in the "Soft Hackle Materials" section.

To answer your question, here's a post from s fontinalis on the flyfishingforum in May 2013:

Re: bleaching herl instructions ?
use 5% bleach solution - 5ml household bleach in 95ml water.

dip the herl in the bleach, gently agitating it until the color changes, then transfer to a 10% vinegar solution to neutralize the bleach.

then transfer to water

let dry

if the herl is stripped (no fibers left) decrease the bleach concentration, or decrease the time in the bleach solution, or both.

These chemicals at the concentrations listed (5% bleach and 10% vinegar) are safe to use, there is no risk of chemical reaction affecting you. But do be careful with pure bleach when you're making the diluted solution.

Re: Bleaching herl

Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 7:15 pm
by Mike62
Thank you, you made that very understandable. I need to be more careful measuring out my bleach apparently.

Re: Bleaching herl

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 8:11 am
by tie2fish
Hope it was helpful, Mike. I would suggest that careful attention to what is happening while the herl is in the bleach solution is as important as is the bleach concentration.

You need to have your neutralizing materials (vinegar solution) all ready and in close proximity. I would also suggest that you use a shallow container to do the bleaching and that your work area is well lit so you can see color changes.

Re: Bleaching herl

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2018 6:00 am
by Mike62
tie2fish wrote: Mon Sep 17, 2018 8:11 am Hope it was helpful, Mike. I would suggest that careful attention to what is happening while the herl is in the bleach solution is as important as is the bleach concentration.

You need to have your neutralizing materials (vinegar solution) all ready and in close proximity. I would also suggest that you use a shallow container to do the bleaching and that your work area is well lit so you can see color changes.
The procedure to burn the quills off is almost secondary by now and I thought I had it down; as yo suggest, shallow pans, neutralizing liquid handy etc. I think I simply got lazy with my bleach measurement. I'm a farmer and finding the delicate balances with the smaller things can be trying. Thank you for the help; it's the defining characteristic of this site.