What do you seal your European mounts with ?

A lot of people use Paraloid b-72. It's literally what museums use. I'm going to try it for the first time soon. I'm excited to see how it turns out.

 

I use Elmer's Glue.

 

I also use paraloid B72. It's a bit more of a trick with antlered heads but anything else is a dunk and dry.

 

I heard high humidity can make Elmers sticky and tacky, have you found this or any other negatives to it? How do you apply, thinned with water?

 

In the NE area, Elmer's gets soft due to the high humidity here. Other areas that are dry or in a house that has a good system to keep the humidity low it would be a good bet providing it wasn't handled. Even sweaty hands can mar the finish.

 

where do you get paraloid b 72

 

I've used mop 'n glo on a couple skulls and it appears to have worked really good. Has anyone had bad experiences with it?

 

I'm not arguing, but I would like to ask a question about Elmers glue: is this verifiably true or is it like a lot of other stories that have taken on a life of their own and repeated as fact? I have a bear skull I did in 1989 and it's handled often with dusting and cleaning with no tackiness or stickiness. Mod podge is nothing more than Elmers glue dehydrated. My deer noses never get sticky. I built most of my furniture years back when white Elmers was all we had. None of my furniture has fallen apart.

 

I know some friends that have skulls that were sealed with elmers glue. They haven't had any issues and they are several years old. We do live in Alaska and it is pretty dry so that might be part of it.

 

Do you just basically paint the Elmer glue on level everywhere and let it set?

 

Im telling you, mop and glo is where its at!! has a great scent to it and holds up VERY well. The more coats you put on the glossier it gets. I always do 2 coats so it doesn't look that glossy and more realistic. All my customer's really like the way it looks!

 

Dilute Elmers is the way to go.

 

I have had at least 4 trophy skulls that I was asked to salvage that had been sealed with Elmer's. All were just dirty and shades of grey to brown and a dull surface on them that was layers of dust and dirt incorporated into the glue. One had the imprints of fingerprints in the surface that you could see. Another had so much dust attached to it it was almost like velvet. This stuff did not rinse off but was stuck to and into the glue. All of these were New England are skulls that had been kept in a household situation. One other one, that was shaded at the top at a darkish mahogany at the top and lightening down the sides was kept in a shop with a fireplace. A long soak in hot water with detergent, vinegar and some serious scrubbing removed the contaminated glue on all of them. The water soluble Elmer's will soften in a damp environment and will allow dust on it to stick to it permanently. Now, there is also a waterproof Elmer's that is something different than the white school glue type. I have no experience with this and I do not know if it dries clear. "A number of microorganisms can degrade polyvinyl acetate. Most commonly, damage is caused by filamentous fungi—however algae, yeasts, lichens, and bacteria can also degrade polyvinyl acetate." Copied from another page. Something that I did not know. Might be a New England thing though I would think Florida would be worse. Even with AC and proper ventilation here, mold still grows on walls, woodwork and especially refrigerators.

 

Thanks Sea Wolf