Protecting Antlers

I've tried several things as well with little to no luck. losing color isn't an issue I can touch that up no problem, the smell takes some time. I've had limited success with wrapping the bases with plastic wrap and waterproof tape.

 

I for one don't worry about it. I do them in batches and it takes very little time or effort to recolor them. I've tried many of the things folks talk about and none worked with less effort than doing nothing.

 

Are you heating the water to 120 degrees? What are you using to remove grease? Most times Dawn works fine but stubborn things respond to strong ammonia added .. or straight ammonia. Acetone is impractical for anything with antlers due to issues putting the rack in a sealed container.

Latex worked best on a dry antler that was wiped down with acetone first. Many coats to get a good layer. The effort and materials weren't worth it and I don't coat them with anything when macerating. Very little to nothing happens to antlers in 2 weeks time submerged. Recoloring and touch ups are not difficult to do once you have practiced a bit.

 

He said degrease for several months, I had to reread it too!

 

My bad. I also missed that.

 

I like the antler paint kit that pinchback offers through MK now but I use to use minwax stain.

 

I assume you are not trying to keep the lower jaws and that your issues are in the area over and around the eyes/forehead?

 

Ok. Possibly your problem is iron staining from pooled blood, not grease. This happens especially in deer that are hung upside down with the head still on for days before the head is removed. Sometimes a neck shot will fill the head with blood as well. This can create a stain even though the skull is macerated. If what you are seeing is at all colored, it is probably from blood.

Try this experiment. Look in a hardware store in with the cleaning stuff for a product called "Iron Out". Ideally it should be powdered but I don't know if they still make it in that form. There is also a post on here, I think by Toxic or Cyclone, that pinpointed which one it was as there was more than one type at the time. Find that and make a solution of it in a bucket. 4 gallons of warm water and maybe a few tablespoons of the stuff dissolved in the water. Try soaking the skull for 24 hours and see if the coloring disappears. If it does, rinse it well in a few changes of water and let it dry. Do NOT put it back in peroxide after doing this. If that was the problem, the stains come back worse than before. This was a worst case scenario. Scroll through all the photos.https://www.taxidermy.net/threads/169079/

As for paraloid and antlers, I haven't tried that. It is a resin sealer and shouldn't loosen or react. After you are done, if the antlers are shiny, rub it down with acetone.