How can I bring some life back to these mounts.

I tried the search -- found Liquid Gold any coments?

Liquid Gold will work. I spray it on all my mounts including African horns. I do wipe it off the horns after a hr or so.

What is liquid gold...is it furniture polish?

This is an excerpt from an article I wrote on cleaning your trophies, regarding antlers and horns.

For antlers, be sure to dust them well. A light spray of Endust ® on a detailing towel – or sprayed on a sheet of paper towel – works well here. Another product that works great are the Swiffer ® dusting cloths. Just be aware of any parts of antlers that can "catch" the material. It will pull off little strands, and they are just annoying to hand pick from the antlers.

The horns of African and other horned species – such as Pronghorn Antelope -- are notorious for having little "grabby" surfaces … this is especially so with the horns of Wildebeest and Cape Buffalo. They are best dusted with the vacuum cleaner's dust brush attachment. After removing all heavy dust, go over the horns, especially the areas of the bosses, and a little further up the horns where the texture is "ragged", using a nylon cleaning brush like those sold in hardware stores and home improvement centers. They are very inexpensive, and are good to have in your trophy-cleaning arsenal.

NEVER USE ANY OIL OF ANY KIND ON THE HORNS OF AFRICAN TROPHIES, OR SHEEP HORNS! THE OIL WILL BLACKEN THE HORNS OF AFRICAN MAMMALS, AND UNNATURALLY DARKEN THE HORNS OF SHEEP, IN SOME CASES GIVING THEM A SPLOTCHY APPEARANCE! LINSEED OIL, NEAT’S FOOT OIL, OLD ENGLISH FURNITURE POLISH, OR MURHPY’S OIL SOAP, ARE TO BE AVOIDED WHEN IT COMES TO CLEANING HORNS. A CLEAN WHITE TOWEL, DAMPENED WITH WATER IS ALL YOU NEED FOLLOWING A GOOD DUSTING WITH THE VACUUM CLEANER. NO MATTER WHAT YOU HEAR, OR READ ELSEWHERE, NEVER USE OIL ON HORNS! PERIOD!

To view the whole article, go to this link.
Cleaning Your Trophies

Best wishes to you!

John.

Like John said, Oil on horns is a no no

Not trying to cause trouble, but I thought all the experts on this forum not too long ago agreed to use 50/50 linseed oil and turpentine on horns.

I ran out and got some but haven't gotten around to applying it yet. I've got 10 or 12 sets of plains game animal horns that I wanted to protect until they get mounted (tanned capes are in the freezer).

This week that isn't the recommended method????

quote:

Originally posted by Kyler Hamann:
Not trying to cause trouble, but I thought all the experts on this forum not too long ago agreed to use 50/50 linseed oil and turpentine on horns.

I ran out and got some but haven't gotten around to applying it yet. I've got 10 or 12 sets of plains game animal horns that I wanted to protect until they get mounted (tanned capes are in the freezer).

This week that isn't the recommended method????

This is not "this week" ... this is what needs to be. Not to cause you any more grief, seriously, but there are generally too many cooks in the kitchen. And there is a right way and a wrong way to acheive optimal results.

The truth of the matter is this ... horns are made up of a similar protein chain as hair and fingernails ... keratin ... among other proteins. And as such, they are susceptible to absorbing many things, one of those things being oil.

Let me ask you ... have you ever seen a Seal or Sea Lion when they just come out of the water -- they look black! Their hair is wet and shiny. But when these same animals dry off, their body hair is actually a medium to medium/light shade of brown. Well, the way their hair absorbs and darken with water, horns darken from oil. And while it is not exactly the same thing, the parallel can still be drawn.

Notice how dark the horns of your safari trophies are compared to the photos of them when they were first taken?

Well sir, the reason they are dark is due to the boiling they must endure before dipping, drying, and shipping. There are natural oils in the horn sheath -- the outer part we are talking about here -- just as there are natural oils in hair and skin. Boiling brings these oils out, thus darkening the horns in an unnatural way. Oiling them will only make this condition worse.

Of course there are those animals that do have darker horns than others, such as Cape Buffalo, Gemsbok, and Common/Blue Wildebeest.




Now, even though these horns are darker than those of Impala, Kudu, Eland, Bongo, Nyala, Waterbuck, even Black Wildebeest, among others, the horns are not as black as they are when they arrive back in this country.






Now, if your Taxidermist really knows his or her stuff, they will try their damndest to restore the horn color to its pre-boiled state. Horns can be lightened, and should always be treated in such a way to achieve this short of painting.

Painting horns results in horns that look painted ... it cannot be avoided ... so painting the horns must be avoided. Painting them is a short cut to the restoration of a lighter color.

Those who don't know any better, and think the blackened horns received back from Africa are the color the horns should be, are the same people who recommend oiling them to keep them black.

However, if you want the horns to look correct for the species, they need to be cleaned and lightened, and oiling them is to be avoided like the plague!

Notice the color of the horns of this fresh killed Black Wildebeest, and compare them to the very same set of horns after the skull had been boiled. Unnaturally dark! I will restore them to their former hue during the mounting procedure. Indoors, the horns appear even darker!



As far as the care they need, that is explained in the care instructions given in my article. And that means no oiling of the horns ... be they African, Asian, North or South American horned species. Antlers can be treated with Lemon Pledge or Endust lightly sprayed on a clean cloth, then rubbed onto their surface and removed ... just like dusting furniture. Oil applied to antlers will simply attract dust more quickly and in a greater quantity than those simply dusted and cleaned.

If however, you want all of your hard earned, and well-paid-for African trophies to have unnaturally dark horns, then by all means ... oil the crap out of them! It's your choice.

I can't make it any plainer or clearer than this. Good luck to you!

John.

quote:

Originally posted by kaprota:
How can I bring some life back to these mounts.

I tried the search -- found Liquid Gold any coments?

No oil (such as lemon oil, whatever) but Johnson's Floor Wax for the shine you may be after has worked well on my stuff. Dust like the taxidermists recommends beforehand.

quote:

Originally posted by calgarychef1:
What is liquid gold...is it furniture polish?

Yep.

quote:

Originally posted by BNagel:

quote:

Originally posted by calgarychef1:
What is liquid gold...is it furniture polish?

Yep.

And it contains oil.

Take care,
John.

While I've been in the hunting business many years I won't claim to know a darn thing about taxidermy. I've always paid other people for their experience and knowledge in that field. I just don't get why seemingly experienced and knowledgable professionals can't agree on something as basic as whether or not to apply oil to horns.

In my mind it makes sense that if there are true advantages or disadvantages one way or the other (and not simply just preferences or rumor) this topic would be more cut and dried... so to speak.

Below is a link to a thread with conflicting advice on this topic. Maybe I'm reading it incorrectly but it looks like at least two experienced and recognized people on this forum are recommending using oil on horns (unless WD-40 & linseed oil aren't considered.... oils).

http://forums.accuratereloadin...=286100869#286100869

Again, I don't care one way or other, but I'd like to do the right thing to preserve my horns. The value of these forums is to share our various knowledge, it would really help people out to have some agreement on what to use to preserve horns.

Thanks,
Kyler

Kyler,

I think what you are missing or what you are assuming is that every taxidermist posting up are in fact "experienced and knowledgeable professionals". From the link you provided there is only one taxidermist in that thread, the others are just hunters posting up opinions. When you read the post from George he even says that it is oil and it WILL darken your horns.

In this thread, correct me if I'm wrong, but me and John B(ha ha we are both John B) are the only taxidermy professionals posting and we both agree to NOT USE OIL ON HORNS.

What is achieved when applying oil to horns?

They become darker and shiny. If this is what you want to achieve then go for it. I think most customers are OK with it and others are not.

The real problem is the outfits in Africa, boiling them to a chard crisp and then ranting that American Taxidermist don't know what they are doing.

Having spent 17 years as a professional Taxidermist, heed John's advice (both John's). Never use any form of oil on horns. John explains it to perfection. I can't stand "boiled black" horns on my trophies. For the record, Nyala and Kudu do not have black horns. Study your pictures. You won't go wrong following John's advice.
LDK