I have a few caribou antlers That have had the velvet removed. The dried blood will not come off and looks nasty. I Tried staining but it don't blend well. I looked in the forums and see some people have said to paint with white latex house paint then stain? My question is, gloss or flat? And has any of you tried this? Does it work well? Or have a {fake}look? thanks!
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Just at thought-Have you tried a wire brush or hydrogen peroxide?
I do several caribou each year & a lot of them come in with fresh velvet stripped of. some of them even stink from the left over blood remaining in the bone of the antlers.
when I gel these in I soak the in a horse trough of water for a day then remove & stand horns up against a wall or hang with skull plate down & the bloody water will run out of the skull plate, ten repeat untill no blod shows in water that is coming out of em. this works well but it will make a mess on your floor.it also makes them real easy to stain after they have dryed.
Good luck
RJSimington
I soak the bloody antlers in a bath made of 1/2 oz of Eliminator Degreaser (Van Dykes)per 1 gal of water. Make enought to cover the antlers, hopefully you have "split" racks. soak for about 1 hr. then wipe with a clean rag. Repeat this if nessesary until you are satisfied.
Mix magnesim carb. with 35% or 50% peroixide into a paste and paint on with a brush. Let dry overnight and hose off, repeat for bad blood stains.
Probably did this more times than I want to talk about. You must wear gloves and eye protection when doing this..of course you know this. The best method is to mix 35% H202(hydrogen peroxide) with fine powdered Magnesium Carbonate...this forms a paste, make it a a little thicker than a good pancake batter...paint on with a cheap bristle brush...let dry overnight, or during the day in the sun..we don't have any (sun) in Seattle..rinse off the next day. Then use Antler Stain # 2 (chocolate brown from Research Mannikins) to recolor the antlers. Don't forget to remove any fiber or ligamentation that might be on the surface of the antler...if there is any it will leave a streaking mark where it appears on the surface. Buzzi Cook