Home › Miscellaneous Receipts › To Clarify Quills

To Clarify Quills

Cut off the small top of the quills, tie them loosely in bundles, fix them nearly upright in a saucepan of water in which a small piece of alum has been dissolved, about the size of a walnut of alum to a quart of water; let them boil slowly until they become clear; add a little turmeric or a small pinch of saffron to the water, to give them the yellow color; dry them in the sun. Tie paper round the feather part of the quills, to keep them from dust.

The quantity of alum may be increased according as you wish the quills more or less brittle.