Had a cust bring in a 100 year old wolf mount to be cleaned. I blowed it off with the compressor but the hair is still really dirty. Is there any chemicals on the market for this type of job? Any sugestions would be helpful.
Thank you Roy
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RC, First, I would be certain that the customer is aware that there is always some risk in cleaning any older mount. If brushing the wolf out good doesn't cause undo hair loss I wiuld wet it down and shampoo it with one of those quality sweet smelling shampoos. Rinse well, air hose it and then hit it with a blow dryer for 2 or 3 hours till it is nice and dry. Do repair/painting as needed after a few days and you are done. Paul Rymer did an article in Breakthrough (I think) on the Smithsonian Bengal Tiger which they hosed down in the parking lot. After a shampoo they died the coat back to a fresh mount look and made a very old mount into something special again. Enjoy, Aaron H.
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Much of the work in the last century was done with ALUM TANS (here we go again). IF your animal was done with alum, it's a bomb waiting to blow up. Over the years, the sulfur has eaten into the skin and by introducing water, you may end up with wolf hair soup. There are no chemicals to counteract that effect. Sometimes you have to satisfy yourself with "what you see is what you get".
Sure Wi is full of fresh replacement's..Just ask any bear hunter......
My husband had a bunch of mounts that had been in storage for a long time and needed a desperate cleaning...the fella I apprenticed under told me to take a bunch of fine sawdust(what you would tumble your hides in and add some turpintine (paint thiner)...not a hole lot and rub it on the fur...this should take the dirt off and give it a bit of shine to it again....I know I did it to the mounts that used to be in the house....it was a lot of work.....the mounts and the hubby got thrown out! The mounts look great!