Taking care of taxidermy mounts. Any tips?

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Dewey
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Taking care of taxidermy mounts. Any tips?

Unread postby Dewey » Mon Jan 18, 2016 10:40 am

I know we have plenty of guys that do taxidermy here so wondering if you had any tips to offer for keeping our mounts in top shape for years to come. Just spent the weekend cleaning mine and bringing them back to life again.

This is pretty much the procedure I have done for many years but open to any other ideas.

http://m.instructables.com/id/Bring-lif ... /?ALLSTEPS

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Peeps22
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Re: Taking care of taxidermy mounts. Any tips?

Unread postby Peeps22 » Mon Jan 18, 2016 10:52 am

Thanks for the link Dewey, interested to hear some more input as well.

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Jeff G
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Re: Taking care of taxidermy mounts. Any tips?

Unread postby Jeff G » Mon Jan 18, 2016 12:01 pm

Wipe them down with liquid gold furniture polish. Wipe the horns down as well. Helps condition the hair and keeps the horns from dry cracking. Do it once a year. Windex on the eyes with a q tip.

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Jackson Marsh
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Re: Taking care of taxidermy mounts. Any tips?

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Mon Jan 18, 2016 12:18 pm

I will have to do this soon. Other than dusting I haven't been doing anything.

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BassBoysLLP
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Re: Taking care of taxidermy mounts. Any tips?

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Mon Jan 18, 2016 12:43 pm

Jeff G wrote:Wipe them down with liquid gold furniture polish. Wipe the horns down as well. Helps condition the hair and keeps the horns from dry cracking. Do it once a year. Windex on the eyes with a q tip.

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So lightweight oil is good for horns and hide.

I humidify. Oil would inhibit the humidification process but minimize dehumidification. Don't know if the lightweight napha is good for hides/horns. Haven't done anything with the eyes? Are the materials sensitive to pH (eg ammonia based windex)?

Good topic

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Jeff G
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Re: Taking care of taxidermy mounts. Any tips?

Unread postby Jeff G » Mon Jan 18, 2016 2:00 pm

The spray they use on horses works good as well. Gives a good luster to the hair.

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DaveT1963
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Re: Taking care of taxidermy mounts. Any tips?

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:00 pm

Horse sheen on hide, wipe it off... Liq gold on horns

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Re: Taking care of taxidermy mounts. Any tips?

Unread postby Dewey » Mon Jan 18, 2016 4:05 pm

BassBoysLLP wrote:
Jeff G wrote:Wipe them down with liquid gold furniture polish. Wipe the horns down as well. Helps condition the hair and keeps the horns from dry cracking. Do it once a year. Windex on the eyes with a q tip.

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So lightweight oil is good for horns and hide.

I humidify. Oil would inhibit the humidification process but minimize dehumidification. Don't know if the lightweight napha is good for hides/horns. Haven't done anything with the eyes? Are the materials sensitive to pH (eg ammonia based windex)?

Good topic

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What's your procedure for humidifying? Just run a humidifier in the room?

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BassBoysLLP
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Re: Taking care of taxidermy mounts. Any tips?

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Tue Jan 19, 2016 3:24 am

Generally dehumifying to 55%. High humidity is worse than low humidity. I'll humidify at less than 35% with distilled water. You don't want salts in the air.

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Re: Taking care of taxidermy mounts. Any tips?

Unread postby Jeff G » Tue Jan 19, 2016 3:24 am

i do nothing. only liquid gold/horse coat polish. if the horns fade over time i put some stain on them.

if there glued up properly they should easily last a lifetime. i do not do any special humid control. whatever the house is should be fine.

smoke and direct sunlight really ages mounts quickly.
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Dewey
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Re: Taking care of taxidermy mounts. Any tips?

Unread postby Dewey » Tue Jan 19, 2016 5:26 am

I agree with the smoke. Mounts in homes or bars with a lot of cigarette smoke just look terrible.
Bowhunting Brian
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Re: Taking care of taxidermy mounts. Any tips?

Unread postby Bowhunting Brian » Tue Jan 19, 2016 6:18 am

Also, don't let people touch them.

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Re: Taking care of taxidermy mounts. Any tips?

Unread postby Rubline » Tue Feb 09, 2016 7:15 am

Keep them out of direct sunlight, artificial light is ok but not sunlight.
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Re: Taking care of taxidermy mounts. Any tips?

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Tue Feb 09, 2016 8:25 am

If you see any hair on the floor...do not ignore it. For some reason, moths have not touched any of the rest of my mounts. But they tore this one up. Not sure why. Took it down last week and sprayed it down / treated to try and get rid of them. They would eventually destroy the cape if not stopped. Taxidermist offered to fix it.

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Re: Taking care of taxidermy mounts. Any tips?

Unread postby Dewey » Sat Jul 21, 2018 8:40 am

Bump


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