page_title: Feather duster
section_title: Types
hierarchical_section_title: Feather duster / Types
caption_attribution_description: featuring real feathers
context_page_description: A feather duster is an implement used for cleaning. It is typically made from a wooden dowel handle onto which ostrich feathers are wound with a wire.
  Feather dusters are most often 14 to 32 inches long. Some have a retractable casing instead of a dowel handle. These are typically used by rack-jobbers and truck drivers who need to dust store shelves, and can retract the feathers into the handle to avoid damage.
  Feather dusters are effective in dusting tight areas, or areas where there are many odds and ends. The individual feathers can get between them without disturbing them. They are effective by means of the tiny barbules on the feathers themselves that act as fingers to collect the dust.
context_section_description: There are several types of feathers used in feather dusters, but ostrich feathers are most often used. Feathers for dusters are the ostrich family's most valuable industrial commodity.
  Black ostrich feathers come from the male and are very soft with feathers that are more "stringy" in nature. Gray ostrich feathers are more stark than the black feathers and are often sold at grocery stores. Floss ostrich feathers are the most soft and delicate feathers and come from underneath the bird's wings. Floss ostrich feathers are more expensive. Chick feathers are more pointed and stark than ostrich feathers, are usually sold at very low prices.
  In China and Thailand, feather dusters are normally made of chicken feathers. They are attached to a length of bamboo, and feathers are commonly present along most of the stick.
caption: A common Asian feather duster made of chicken feathers attached to a bamboo stick
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