Last night I took out my fly tying materials to tie a few flies. It has been months since I pulled everything out. I was tying using a Pheasant Tail clump I bought years ago. I noticed at the bottom clump a whitish moist-ish powerdery substance. I had stored this feather in an unsealed bag. I didn’t see any other signs of bugs. What happened to my material? I am suspecting that made the material was not fully dried and there has been some mositure instrusion? Comments please.
Borax used as a preservative?
if its not borax and if it got damp it could be a kind of mold. a wash, light and air should kill it.
Eric
I’d guess borax too. I have a bunch all over my stuff too. After all this time haha.
nb
Seems to me he should have noticed borax originally…borax won’t grow but mold will…ergo…mold
If the piece dried significantly from the last time he saw it the borax could easily have dried out and fallen off… ergo, we don’t know… 
Besides if it is mold it would be spelled “ergot”… But why be “wry”…
This is a clump I purchased from a local fly shop. I threw away the original packaging but it was probably METZ. I don’t think it is Borax since I don’t see the little “pebbles” you get with borax. Based on all your comments I am guess mold too. I will give it a good wash and get back to tying…Thanks everyone
why not pluck or cut off the usable feathers from the clump and throw that away?? am i missing something here??
you wont have any problems after that