Waterproofing Feathers

albatross

Supporter
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
Has anyone used WD40 to spray their feather fletches to waterproof them?

I thought of spraying them. Knock off the excess and let them dry.

Any thoughts?
 

Corax67

Well-known member
I’ve tried a few things but none seems to really work that well but the powder is better than most.



Karl
 

chuffalump

Well-known member
Not sure if WD40 wouldn't have an eroding effect on the glue. Long term it's not supposed to be good on rubber.
 

4d4m

Active member
I've used waterproofing spray (for boots and jackets) before which has worked reasonably. Needs refreshing fairly regularly but it's worth doing. However I wouldn't use WD40 on feathers. I wouldn't have thought the oils would dry out.
 

Raven's_Eye

Active member
Ironman
I've only used the fletching powder once. It did work to an effect, but the biggest concern was the warnings on the bottle of how it was toxic and use in a well ventilated area. Which is fine did all that, rubbed it in, tapped off excess, but when it came to shooting them first couple of times upon loose I was engulfed by a cloud of this toxic powder, as if I'd just shot a small musket.
Now I use boot water proofer spray.
 

Valkamai

Member
If the arrows are tuned properly does it matter if your feathers get a bit wet?

Sent from my H3113 using Tapatalk
 

albatross

Supporter
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
If the arrows are tuned properly does it matter if your feathers get a bit wet?

Sent from my H3113 using Tapatalk
I don't tune arrows with wet fletches. So it is quite probable that 'wet' and/or misshapen feathers will influence how arrows fly!
 

4d4m

Active member
Feathers are not meant to get wet, which is why birds spend a lot of time grooming to keep the shape and spread the oils through them.
A feather that gets thoroughly soaked may not go back into its proper shape when dry.
 

bobnewboy

Member
Feathers are not meant to get wet, which is why birds spend a lot of time grooming to keep the shape and spread the oils through them.
A feather that gets thoroughly soaked may not go back into its proper shape when dry.
Steaming them with a kettle of boiling water seems to fix them 90% of the time, for me at least. It really is quite magical to see the fletching recover it’s original shape. Just need to set the arrow up somewhere to dry again afterwards and the jobsagoodun.
 

Valkamai

Member
I don't tune arrows with wet fletches. So it is quite probable that 'wet' and/or misshapen feathers will influence how arrows fly!
What I meant was that in my experience wet fletchings act like no fletchings so a well tuned tested bareshaft arrow will minimise the affect of wet fletchings.

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