Just thought I'd try to document my latest project. I'll be trying to clean up a set of antlers I found submerged in a creek yesterday that are pretty nasty. Green and black mildew splotched all over with some parts overly whitened and others stained dark brown. Seems like the parts under the mud are stained and the parts that were in the water have the green and black crud.
I started a post yesterday about this little day trip called "Look what we found, a family walk in the woods." Here is a link if you care to check it out. http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=070403
There are lots of pictures of our day trip in the above link but I'll repeat as needed here.
Anyway, here's a pic of the rack as it appeared still in the creek right where I found it.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y43/DaveBulla/Tiffanysprings09027.jpg)
And fresh out of the creek.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y43/DaveBulla/Tiffanysprings09028.jpg)
You can see it's pretty nasty and has been in the creek for a couple years but here's a better shot showing the rack today after I'd wet it down with the garden hose again just before beginning the cleaning process.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y43/DaveBulla/rackfoundincreek003.jpg)
Gonna have some work ahead to get this thing looking fit for the den wall.
Now, I've never done a job like this but I think I can figure out a couple ways to get it where I want it.
My first thought was good ol' clorox bleach. Turns out we were completely out though except for some 50-50 mix bleach water we use for spraying down the showers. Actually, I think the last bottle I mixed is more like 25% bleach instead of 50%. Anyway, I sprayed it down real good to see what would happen.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y43/DaveBulla/rackfoundincreek004.jpg)
Came back about 15 minutes later to check and couldn't see any bleaching effect. Went back in the house to see what else we had under the sink and in the bathroom that might work.
Came back with this selection. Clorox bleach toilet bowl cleaner gel and Zud cleanser. Mixed the two together on a sponge with a scrubby side to it and went after the right side of the rack.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y43/DaveBulla/rackfoundincreek005.jpg)
Looks like some of them "wall treatments" they show on the DIY network. Good luck!
Took off the heavy crud pretty quick but didn't do much to the stained tips of the main beam and the G3. Still, the right side looks better than it did. Now to tackle the really nasty left side.
Since the left side had a lot more black build up and green staining, I elected to use the scrub brush with a bunch of the clorox gel and zud powder together in a sort of paste. I didn't take a pic using the scrub brush but here is the left side fairly well scrubbed with both brush and scrubby sponge.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y43/DaveBulla/rackfoundincreek006.jpg)
And here I'm just letting it sit with a bunch of cleaner all over the whole thing.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y43/DaveBulla/rackfoundincreek007.jpg)
Lastly, for today anyway, here it is rinsed off. Not as clean as I want it but I'm gonna play around with some peroxide and straight bleach in the next few days to see how much I can whiten it. I might use sandpaper on the really bad places and then I'll try to even it out with some sort of stain because a normal rack is dark down near the skull and lightens up towards the tips but this one is whitened down near the bases and dark on some of the tips. Gonna try to "harmonize" the color a bit to make it look more natural.
(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y43/DaveBulla/rackfoundincreek008.jpg)
Dude, you went and messed em up! :help:
I would have never cleaned them up. They looked way too cool the way they were! :
Different strokes for different folks... :jumper:
Lot better than it was:), hopefully the straight bleach will get alot of the other stains out.
Wonder what kind of story he would tell if that were possible. . .
Just be careful mixing chemicals....my Aunt almost offed herself that way cleaning a bathroom.
I have a very similar skull...so Im watching.
WARNING!!! If you used regular houshold bleach make sure you rinse it extremely well. otherwise it will continue to eat at the bone. The best product for bleaching is the hair bleaching treatments.
PUT THEM ON THE ROOF OF YOUR GRAGE OR HOUSE LET THE SUN HIT THEM FOR A FEW DAYS THAT WILL WHITEN THEM UP .
I second the warning on mixing... had to be put on oxygen one time when the stuff I mixed made a toxic gas! (No beans were involved)! Try not to get your stain too dark, it won't look as natural.
use the peroxide hair bleach. rinse well. to stain you can use potassium permanganate (condys cystals) available at pharmacies. mix the potassium permanganate in water. it will turn purple, don't be afraid it dries natural brown. start with a weak solution and work up to what your happy with. when dry use steel wool to polish the points and blend the colour.
I would leave some of the "crud" color to remember the story and situation of it's discovery!
I would say go easy with the bleach to avoid the chaulky look!
Cool find!!!
my buddy found one similar, except it was bleached white. so he used some light colored wood stain and you cant even tell its not "natural.
so if ya go to far with the bleaching, you can always get it back.
gaff
I'm with Plumber on this one, throw them puppies up on the roof and let the sun take care of em.
Good rattl'n horns if ya ask me!
You can get the 40% peroxide for bleaching hair at a beauty salon or a supply store. The only thing is I think that you have to be a licensed beautician to purchase it from a supply store. I have used it for bleaching bear skulls. It will turn them white so you would have to stain then if you want them to be colored.
Since you already went and used Chlorine bleach, give them a rinse with baking soda water when you're done.
I threw two heads in the creek and forgot about them. When I found them they kind of looked like yours. I just wiped them off and threw them under a spruce in the yard.
The sun turned them white, but they are chalky.
You could clean it up and boil everything in peroxide antlers and all...then just stain the antlers what ever color you want. Seal it with clear coat and you will be set.
Clorox will destroy the skull/antlers even after sealed it will still breack down over the years.
NEVER mix ammonia cleaners and bleach, makes a toxic gas... :(
Everyone who mentioned mixing cleaners.... FYI, I was doing this outside and in small amounts as I was fully aware of the dangers of mixing cleaners. Thanks for the concerns though...
As for the antlers, they have continued to whiten as they dried and are now about as white as I want them overall but some areas are definitely whiter than they should be so I'll be playing around with the stain to get them back to a more natural and less weathered appearance. I'll probably also do a little judicious sanding whith a fine grit paper to smooth out some areas that appear almost pitted due to either erosion or some sort of mineral loss from being in the creek for so long.
We'll see how it goes.
Dave, the set I have that I cleaned up were like yours. I used bleach, but whenever I am bleaching bone, I wrap paper towels around it and soak it down. I leave them in the sun and re-soak enough to keep the paper moist for a day or so, then rinse well. That really gets deep and whitens them up.
Then, I took a light stain and used very sparingly to get them back to a natural look.
Great looking souvenir.
PMd Dave
FYI all, learned something new yesterday.
KSDan pm'd me about the possibility that picking up antlers attached to the skull may be illegal and/or require a special permit. Evidently it's the law in KS and he gave me a heads up that it may be the same in MO.
Today at work I dug into my wallet and found a card form one of the local Conservation Officers and gave him a call. Dan was correct. Basically, you CAN pick up antlers still attached to a skull but you need to contact the local CO within 24 hours. The guy I talked to was very open and helpful to me even after I explained that I'd found the antlers then later heard about the possible law/restriction. He said it was no problem and would mail me a form to fill out so that I can get a possession permit or somethin' that would allow me to legally keep the antlers. He said that especially around hunting season or in cases where a deer is just found dead say in a farmers field they like to physically check the animal for cause of death. Mainly to decide if it died of natural causes, was hit by a car or poached.
So, if any of you happen to find a skull, if you care about keeping things legal, just give your local CO a holler and get a permit. If the animal is "fresh" or cause of death is questionable, I'd personally leave it lay where it is and have the CO look at it before taking the head.
I found a product at the dollar store that is amazingly good at removing stains and mildew, it is called "AWESOME" usually at Family dollar stores.
Not a pro at this but what would have happened if you took them to a car wash and power sprayed them?
Dave, If you use 35% hydrogen peroxide to clean and whiten then restain the actual atlers with postassium permanganate you will make those look incredible. I have done several sets this way with excellent results. When staining though water it down about 70% to start and use a thin layer then add layers to get the color you want. Then use some sandpaper to highlight some of the "bumps" around the bases!
Adeeden, I've got the rack cleaned up as white as I want it and am ready to "restore" the colors. Do you have any pictures of racks you've used the potasium permanganate on? How even is it? Seems like real antlers always have some color irregularities to them and an even stain might look fake. I already tried some minwax golden pecan on one side and I'm not too thrilled about it. I was going for the kinda yellowed ivory tint but it's got more orange than I wanted.
A lot of the racks around here are kinda darker brown and if you look close, almost have green, red and purpleish shades to them. What I dont' want, is brown like elk antlers. Maybe down in the grooves towards the bases as that is normal there but not up on the rest of the rack. I'm pretty artistic when I want to be and have painted and drawn a lot when I was younger so I have a pretty good eye for color but I'm just being cautious about this.
I was gonna take some more pictures but my daughter seems to have borrowed my camera and I don't know where she left it. I'll have some up by the weekend for sure. Got an idea for a wall display that may be kinda cool too.
I'm also thinking about taking them to the woods and make some rubs with them and see how much color they pick up from the sap.
Ya always hear guys saying that the darker colored racks are caused by what they rub on but I've never been too sure. I kinda think a lot of it is from what they eat as when you cut the antlers, sometimes the color goes pretty deep and it's too evenly colored (I think) to be caused by rubbing trees but it might be a cool way to find out.
Dave..thanks for the heads up on calling the CO when finding antlers attached to the head still. I believe it is the same when coming across a road kill..bhfp
I prefer to use peroxide than bleach water.
Bleach-water solution increases the bone porosity.
Because of that it may be difficult to restore the antler's natural color.
I like to use pigmented wax for restoring original color,i think it works pretty well
Frenchy,
"I like to use pigmented wax for restoring original color, I think its works pretty well."
Is that a fancy way of saying "crayons"????
:bigsmyl:
Just kidding. With a name like Frenchy, made me think of the times I hear people talk about shopping at "that fancy french store, Tarjay." (Target) or the Glahday (Glade) comercials.
But seriously, what do you mean by pigmented wax and where do you get it?
Dave, I'll check on some pictures I'm sure i got some around here somewhere! As for the actual color if you thin it way down and put it on in layers it looks perfect! As for making rubs to try to stain them I have also tried that and all I got was blisters for the effort!
QuoteOriginally posted by Dave Bulla:
Frenchy,
"I like to use pigmented wax for restoring original color, I think its works pretty well."
But seriously, what do you mean by pigmented wax and where do you get it?
Sorry for my unclear wording Dave ,i meant wax polishes for furniture
(brown wax)
QuoteOriginally posted by Dave Bulla:
Frenchy,
"
Just kidding. With a name like Frenchy, made me think of the times I hear people talk about shopping at "that fancy french store, Tarjay." (Target) or the Glahday (Glade) comercials.
;)