MAIN QUESTIONS: 1 - which is more effective - bleach or hydrogen peroxide (I have 35%) for removing deep set blood, mould, and fungus from an old caribou rack?
2 - Is it dangerous or bad for the bone to switch from soaking in bleach to soaking in hydrogen peroxide? Will something too harsh make them brittle and break?
I tried to search this site as I saw suggested in another message, but was unable to find the correct function - any advice on how I can save these antlers?
STORY (if you want the history):
I have a very large set of caribou antlers which I aquired in 1997
in the Yukon. The antlers were fresh and I had to strip the velvet off at the time. I went away to school for a few years and left them in my parents garage. They were still stained in areas where the blood had not comletely drained, but they were dry, so I assumed they only needed more sun.
Last year I moved to Halifax in Nova Scotia, and put the antlers on my balcony thinking they would naturally bleach in the sun. Instead, the moist sea air caused them to become covered in a layer of dark mold and pink fungus. I took them to a local taxidermist who attempted to removed the mould, but was unsuccessful with mild detergents (he was afraid to try anything too strong, but sent me home with some 35% Hydrogen Peroxide to try).
Two days ago I tried to bleach them in my bathtub (only 1/4 of them will fit under water at a time), using a pink powdered bleach. I left them overnight, and today was able to partially scrape off some of the blackness. To my amazement, they began to drip large volumes of blood when I turned them to bleach another side. Obviously they are still full of (rotting) coagulated blood from 6 years ago!
So now I am not sure which way to go - I am currently trying to bleach the other parts of it by turning it - I can't submerse the entire thing at once as it is far too big. Some of the black stuff is coming off, the rest needs a thorough scrubbing. I am worried that using too many different harsh products will ruin the bone....though the way they look, almost anything would be better.
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Use Peroxide from the hair dresser.
You need some other chemicals too.
magnesium carbonate. Mix into a paste and apply with rubber gloves and paint brush.
Be very carefull with the peroxide, dont get it on you, wear saftey goggles too.
Get just a spot on your finger nails with cause you hours of pain. You will not notice it at first but just imagine a red hot match stuck under your finger nail.
So you know what it will do to your eyes.
Hi John - thanks for your reply!
Unfortunately I already tried bleaching it......leading to the blood drainage from the points. I think I am going to have to wait for better weather to finish the job, as my apartment (and the hallway outside of it) now smells as if I am hiding a corpse.
I will try to get a big tub in the spring, or maybe just tie the whole damn thing to a dock and submerse it in a lake for a week or so - the bleach may not be helping, but I think that soaking it has definitely helped leech the blood out a bit!
I will keep trying to search for more info - I saw a couple of sarcastic responses on this site to others who had asked questions about antlers....I actually tried to take the guys advice and "search the archives" but the "tab" he was talking about doesn't appear on the screen that I am looking at........(I found this site searching for taxidermy sites on google, but I guess I don't have the main page).
Thanks again!
Andrea