Bleached Horns, reburbishing

[MountainWalk]

Doing some Christmas gifts and just in general cleaning up all the skulls out on the porch and bringing them in. What is a good way to bring new life to sunbleached trophies? Walnut stain and steel wool?

[JimmyHoffa]

I don't see why walnut wouldn't work.  In the past as funny as it sounds, I used coffee and a sponge.  And you can spray with a clear coat afterwards.

[buglebuster]

when i changed the oil in my diesel i decided to use some of it on some old bleached horns. Took a rag and wiped the antlers down and they turned out pretty darn good!

[cedarriver]

 Depending on what kind of antler you are doing, ( deer or elk), and where it was killed, I use 3-4 different types of stain Early American, Red Mahogany, Walnut and sometimes Golden Oak. Start with the lighter colors on the backside of the antler to see what looks best. That being said if the antlers are dried out too much and weather checked I usually paint them because the dried antlers absorb the stain to much and you can't get the highlights or the lighter bone color back into them.

[bow-n-head]

Be careful if the antlers are too degraded they will turn black. If they still have a good smooth texture you will have good luck with a number of stains. I use Watco dark satin finishing wax.