Turkey Feathers

Turkey feathers have historically been used by musicians to "swab" out the accumulated moisture in their instrument during and after playing. In actuality, when you put a turkey feather into your instrument and push it around, it just moves the beads of water around and breaks them up into smaller droplets. This keeps them from forming streams into tone holes. When this is done after playing, the smaller droplets will evaporate more quickly than larger droplets sitting in the instrument in the case. However, it is best to use the turkey feather for first reason and use a silk swab at the end of playing to clean the instrument out completely.

Before Using:

Clip the fuzzy, wispy feathers off at the bottom before using or they will come off in your instrument. You can also clip the tip of the feather into an arrow shape to enable the feather to enter the instrument smoothly.

Order one or a discounted pack of 10. 10" and 11" feathers work well on the oboe. We have a very limited amount of 12" feathers that work best on the English horn.