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Hi, I want to collect up the tail feathers of my peacock to use for a dream catcher and I would like to know if its ok to wash the feathers once I collect them in warm soapy water and then let them dry in the sun. Would the detergent damage the feathers?

Should be fine my other half has washed them with no problems.

Are doing something like this http://www.smileyme.com/feathers/feathe ... wreath.gif

We wash our for sale at the fairs and ranch days using a mild washing liquid is best

As you have brought up the subject of Peacock Tail Feathers I was wondering if someone can answer a question.
What is the superstision surrounding the feathers??
Some people will not have them in the house.
What is the history of this and why??
Just out of curiosity, I would like to know, perhaps it is something to do with "the evil eye of fate" in the sub continent cultures where they originated.
Thanks

I have them in my house and I am still here I looked this up about 2 years ago as I wondered the same thing.

From the net:

In Asia, the feathers of the peacock are considered auspicious and protective. However in the early part of the 20th-century in the West, it was considered very bad luck to keep them in the home.
One silly explanation for this superstition is that it was promoted intentionally to prevent people from eating this large, delicious member of the pheasant family. In that way, the bird would be protected from extinction, for many people thought it was rare -- a quintessential rara avis.
The reason for the superstition has more to do with the eye-like markings at the tips of the feathers which, around the Mediterranean, recall the dreaded "evil eye"-- the ever watchful and envious glance of the she-demon, Lilith. She was blamed for otherwise inexplicable deaths of infants, among other misfortunes.
Only partly as a result of this association with the evil eye was it believed that the flesh of the peacock is poisonous. But in any case, that is nonsense.
At the height of both the Greek and Roman cultures, the bird was served at formal dinners with its feathers cunningly pasted back on, possibly with a honey mixture used as glue, so that the dramatic beauty concealed the roasted fowl. At the excessive and luxurious banquets of European kings and queens of the Renaissance, there was an epicurean delight consisting of stuffed roast birds one inside the other like the famous Russian wooden mamushka dolls. The outermost shell was the glorious peacock, its many-eyed train stretching the length of the middle of the "groaning board."
As Margaret Visser, in Much Depends On Dinner points out: People have always thought that what looks amazing must certainly taste wonderful, too.
From the time of Cicero until the Renaissance, no truly sumptuous European feast was held without a dish of peacock, often adorned with the bird's feathered head and fan of tail feathers. (A dish of swan could also be similarly displayed, the impressive wings taking pride of place instead of the fan.) According to "Food fashions of the Renaissance" in Food: The History of Taste, where you can see illustrations of tables set with these extravagant dishes, it was the rapid rise in popularity of the meat of the North American turkey that ended the reign of "peacock supreme."
Deities and Royalty
The peacock was associated with the Middle Eastern deity, Tammuz, consort of the goddess, Anat. In Greece, it was sacred to Hera, queen of heaven and lawful wife of Zeus -- a pair of them drew her chariot --, and they were kept at her temples. In the Roman Empire, peacocks were Juno's birds and on coins symbolized the females of the ruling houses, the lineage princesses.
In both the Hindu and the Buddhist traditions, the peacock's influence is mainly in the realm of worldly appearance. (This is in contrast to the swan which is a symbol of the higher realms. ) Hence, the Mother-of-Buddhas, Mahamayuri-vidyarajni (Skt.) has a peacock as her vehicle. In Japan, she appears as Kujaku.
Skanda (called also, Murugan,) one of the two sons of Indian god, Shiva, has a peacock for his mount. Lord of the elements of form, he is also a war god.
A standard made of peacock feathers used to indicate the presence of a 19th-century rajah, whose power is worldly.
In the old Chinese bureaucratic system, members of the third highest level displayed a peacock as the insignia of rank. These badges were in the form of large embroidered squares applied to the front of an official's formal gown. (A similar system for indicating status was used in the Byzantine Empire.)
Peacocks are considered sacred in India, especially in the north where its feathers may be burnt to ward off disease, and even to cure snakebite.
In a Buddhist tale about the travels of some Indian merchants to Baveru or Babylon, we learn that the inhabitants of that great city marvelled at the gorgeous bird which the merchants had brought with them.
The motif of two peacocks, one on each side of the Tree of Life, is a well-known feature of Persian decorative arts. A pair of peacocks stands for the "psychic duality of man" similar to the role played by the Gemini in western astrology, says Cirlot (A Dictionary of Symbols.) However it must be said that the notion of two natures -- in man or in the world that surrounds him -- is certainly not a universal one.
Because of that, in the iconography of European alchemy and hermaneutics, the peacock represents the soul. In Christianity, it stands for immortality and the incorruptibility of the soul, as in this XIth-century Byzantine image. It is an obvious solar symbol, too, because of the resemblance between the rays of the sun and the circular fan of the tail in full display.


Info from khandro.net Read more at http://www.khandro.net/animal_bird_peacock.htm

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Peacock feathers should never be brought on stage, either as a costume element, prop, or part of a setpiece. Many veteran actors and directors tell stories of sets collapsing and other such events during performances with peacock feathers.


Info from wikipedia Read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theatrical_superstitions

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It is thought very unlucky to have the feathers of a Peacock within the home or handle anything made with them. This is possibly because of the eye shape present upon these feathers i.e. the Evil-Eye associated with wickedness.


Info from woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk Read more at http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk ... itions.htm

Thanks PeasOfOz,
More information than I needed/expected but facinating reading.
Thanks for the links will explore further now you have sparked my interest to know more.

I wash mine also in mild dish washing liquid and sell them on ebay never had anyone come back and complain and most buy more the next year

I do the same but just a quick wash and they come out perfect

If they aren't too dirty I steam mine for two reasons; to cleanse (anti bacterial) them. Also steam bounces back any feathers to their natural state, so over boiling kettle or an actual clothes steamer- I have had great success with bent peacock feathers & crinkled feathers returning to their grandeur state of perfection!

Try it and you will be pleasantly surprised !

Good idea may try that



George