Do female ostrich feathers really make the best dusters?

According to the latest television advert for BMW, they do. The car manufacturer claims to use just these types of feathers to clean its vehicles prior to applying paint.

"The feathers are used because they have an innate static charge not found to the same degree in other feathers or materials and are consequently highly efficient at attracting dust," says BMW.

The feathers are sold by ostrich farms, whose business is selling meat. "There is a vast array of feathers on the female birds: from the very long white plumes to black plumes to the body feathers," says Frank Ayres, who has bred ostriches at Hangland Farm in Oxfordshire for 15 years. The familiar white and black plumes adorn flashy stage costumes and go to making up feather boas; those highly prized as dusters are less showy and found closest to the body.

Ostrich-feather fans claim that they pick up dust better than anything else, but there is no agreement why. Some say it's down to static charge; others say it is the type and length of the feathers' barbs; others say the dust is trapped in special oils that coat the surface of the feathers. "There is nothing man-made that will remove dust particles as well as natural ostrich feather," Ayres insists.