Ostrich feathers are a natural product and as such each feather is individual and unique. In the past few months I have been repeatedly told that my white ostrich feathers are not good enough quality because the shafts of the feathers are not white, and as a person who believes in giving my customers the very best I thought I would shed some light on the differences in shaft colour. 

As a natural product before dying and/or bleaching the feather shaft is normally quite dark in colour. The shafts can vary from black through to the occasional white and can also be multi-coloured. As you can see by these pictures below.

The size of the shaft can also have an impact on the colour of the shaft after dying and/or bleaching. If the shaft is narrow  it impedes the penetration of the dye/bleach which gives either a multi-coloured shaft or dark shaft. Having all white shafts in an order of white feathers is very rare, less than 10% of an order has pure white shafts so 100 feathers = 10 or less white shaft feathers.

I will always strive to use the best quality feathers in my fans, but I can not promise that the shafts will be white. I have been handpicking the feathers for the fans that I make or having my suppliers hand pick them for me. Below are more pictures that have been taken from suppliers offerings, you can see the differences in the shafts.

The feather plumage is also something that differs from feather to feather. Some are full and fluffy, some have a more manicured look, some even has twists at the ends of the feathers. No two feathers are alike and the maybe some natural defects in the plumage. When I order feathers I will always order Prime quality feathers to give you the customer the very best I can. Here are some of the fans I have made recently that show just how the differences in shaft colours.

If you have any questions, or would like to order fans please feel free to contact me via the contact us page.

Love and light

Annette