OK I just mounted a albino doe for a friend. He came by and saw it says it was whiter than it turned out when he killed it. He left it in a freezer for 3.5 yrs. The head had a lot of blood frozen to it when I opened it to thaw it out.Man for this deer to be a trophy he really treated it like crap. It is the dirtiest cape i have ever done. I am new at this and have mounted approx 12 deer now. Well he showed me a picture of it and it was whiter than it turned out. OK I washed this cape a whole lot in ERA liquid detergent for short periods of time and then rinsed well in cold water. I washed it 5 diff times trying to get it as white as possible then I mounted the same way I have been doing. Cape was fine, mount is fine but it is stained looking compared to the pic he showed me. Before I saw the pic of the deer and before he came by and told me it was whiter, I thought maybe it was this deers natural color, the staining on the hairs. Well apparently not. My question is has anyone used the fur bleach xl that is in the WASCO catalog? Does it work? it says it can be used after mounting. Pleasse give me some feed back. If this stuff doesnt work do you have any other suggestions. Thanks for helping.
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We just warned someone else about taking in hides like this. That loser can't remember his license plate number from 3 years ago and he's going to tell you it was "whiter" than it is now? He's the one who let it soak up the mud and blood for nearly 4 years and should be damned thankful that he even got a reasonable facsimile of what he'd shot. You're going to have a TOUGH time bleaching deer hair. Piebalds you might get away with, but albino's are pure deer. Losers like this guy should never be let in your shop door. They know they've screwed up and are just relieved to have someone like you to lay the blame on now. I can see him right now telling all his jerk buddies not to bring anything to you because YOU ruined his deer. I hope you learned a valuble lesson here.
When I took this guys albino he brought me two deer . the albino and another one. I told him when I took it if it had been in the freezer that long there was no guarantee I could make it work. Being as new as I am to this, Hell I was happy to be able to save a beautiful albino for this guy. I could not believe he didnt even begin to take care of his trophy and to bring it to me in the shape it was he's lucky I was able to get it mounted at all. When he came by the other day I told him that is the worst cape I have had so far and that I couldnt believe he didnt even wash the blood off the cape at all. I hope this guy dont start trashing me and my work. I was actually trying to save him a rare trophy around these parts. The mount actually turned out good except for the staining. George you are right and I have learned a lesson hopefully not the hard way. I never thought of it the way you said until I read your reply. I will not take anymore questionable capes in the future. I guess Just live and learn.
You know it did kind of piss me off when he said it was whiter when he killed it. Not it looks good or thank you for saving my trophy.
George thanks for your response I do appreciate you taking the time to help us new guys out.
Put an albino in the sunlight or shoot the photo with a flash and that hide as well as antlers can look much whiter than it actually is. Maybe it is stained. Or, maybe some other more biologically minded folks may know, will albino hair lose some of its whiteness over time? I have photos of an 8pt I shot last year, some of the photos were taken in the woods, some at home. Those pictures showed what looked like 2 completely different deer. Antlers as well as hide and size looked like 2 deer. If some bonehead customer had these pictures and it was their deer it could have been another dreaded "my deer was bigger, wider, darker, lighter" or whatever argument.
I use this product. Don't expect miracles but it does help in cleaning white hair. You need to do what they instruct as the paint method. It probably will take two or three treatments. After the third time I'll mix in some 3% hydrogen peroxide. Use a toothbrush and try a small area in the back first.
Were fortunate to have all these products to try and have fun with. Get the phone and credit card. The box will be at your door in a few days.