I received a set of velvet antlers back from the taxidermist the other day that he injected or submerged in order to preserve the velvet... the velvet is now dry but has small patches of dried dirt in various places and the velvet itself looks dirty...this buck was found submerged in a creek and this is probably where the dirt/mud came from... does anyone have any suggestions on how to properly clean the velvet without damaging it... thanks for all suggestions in advance and thanks for a great informative site....DPM
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Take it back to your taxidermist and have him take a look at them.
Take an old toothbrush, the softer the better, and see if you can't remove the dirt with that. VERY CAREFULLY! Under no circumstances would I use water, if you think you need to wet the dirt, use alcohol. I would suspect that the taxidermist was reluctant to remove the dirt or whatever it is, due to the circumstances you described. Any decomposition from the creek water would make the velvet very fragile.
Why don't you call the taxidermist who did the work and ask them? If the antlers were soaked to preserve them, I would have expected the dirt to come off in the process. If they were not cleaned for some other reason I would like to know what it was. Without having the antlers "in hand" from the beginning, it's really difficult to judge.