Cleaning mounted bird

I just tried to order "mount brite" from WASCO and they said the person who makes it is ill and they don't know if they will ever get anymore in and don't have another cleaning product.
Anyone know of a successful way to clean old mounted birds? Thanks

Return to Bird Taxidermy Category Menu

Mike

success in cleaning a mounted bird is directly proportional to the amount of dirt. Birds that have been negelected for a number of years and have been in dusty or dirty environments will just never come clean and look like new. The dirt and dust gets inbetween the feather veins and in the down. I have never been able to get them to look like new. Having said that, you can make material improvements. If you hit the orange button to the left you will get some great ideas on what has worked for others including "mount brite". For me, I remove as much dust and dirt as possible with a hair dryer on "low" and blowing with the fether tracks. Once this is done, I take a feather duster and again "dust" a little harder. If there is still a lot of dirt, I take a ball of cotton (not polyester) soak in acetone and wipe with the fethers. The feathers will appear wet, but the acetone evaporates quickly. I do this over and over until I think I have all that will come out. Do not use acetone on the feet or bill as it may remove the paint. As I said earlier, a real dirty bird is pretty much a goner. Good Luck

Thanks clewis

I'll give that method a try.

Swiffer Pads

Use your better judgement on when to and not use one, but a Swiffer Dust Mop Pad works great. It'll pull a lot of the dust out of the hard to reach crevices. Most old mounts I see weren't properly degreased and now the fat has leached from the skin to the upper reaches of the feathers. In this case, there's not much you can do. Otherwise, the method previously described and this one should get your bird as clean as possible.

Thanks Robbie

I'll keep that in mind. I haven't recieved the birds yet but the lady phoned and told me she is bringing them in so i wanted to have a plan when she arrives. Hopefully they won't be too bad. Thanks.