I need some help gang... I got a set of caribou antlers in from a customer, who said he wanted the velvet left on. He told me his guide injected them with a "temporary" preservative,(not known what was used, if anything) that would last untill he got home. He brought them to me frozen. I thawed them, pierced the tip of the anlters and allowed them to drain.( Wow ! I never knew how much bloody ooze could drian from an antler!) I injected them where I could with Antler in Velvet Tan, and following the directions, painted on a very heavy coat on the outside. I waited 7 days, then washed them, dried them and combed them out. They look good,no slipping,( except for where the velvet came off where they were handled - George, you can see their hand print!)
but they still have a slight "stink" to them.( Enough to make my wife say "whats that smell?") After reading 11 pages of archives, I am not sure of the best next step... What could I do do get rid of the smell that is left? -OR- Should I strip quickly and send them to RM for flocking? -OR- Do I leave them alone? - I warned my customer before he brought them over, that I might have to strip and stain them.
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I had the same situation when I returned from my trip as well. The guide injected them with Formaldehyde but it was watered down so much it didn't do much. I was over there during 911 and actually couldn't get back into the states for a week. I used preserves it injected them hung them to drain and then ended up mixing a horse trough of a diluted amount like it said to and soaked all of the sets and they still stunk.( but it was getting better) I hung them up and let them dry thoroughly (outside) and after awhile the smell did subside and I went ahead and mounted them after the mount was dry I used a pleasant cover spray I bought from Research Mannikins and the guy I mounted them for loved them and was extremely happy. So I would just let them dry all the way through and make that a project a bit down the road. Good Luck