taxidermy care?

[260Rem]

For guys like Charlie or the others that do this stuff for a living I have a question.  I don't have any mounts in my home but have considered it.  The one real drawback I have is when I go to someone's place and their mounts are dusty and have cobwebs and crap hanging off of them.  I'm sure the original work was fine but now the animal looks "dead" and not alive.  My question to the folks in the know is...is it relatively easy to clean them without hurting them?  I love the work that many talented folks on this forum do......another question is will my mount look the same 10,20,40 years from now with proper care?  

I hope you understand where I'm coming from and hope this hasn't been covered before.  Thanks for your time.
-260Rem

[ICEMAN]

It will look as good as you take care of it.

[bucklucky]

Just give the mounts a yearly dusting with a feather duster it helps.

It is best to take the mount off the wall if you can and take it outside and actually blow the dust off and out of the hair blowing with the hair not against it. Other than that a quick spray of hair sheen, wipe off with a rag, wiping with the hair and wipe the antlers off with hairsheen , wd-40, or an antler care oil and you should be good to go. For bigger mounts it is tougher since you dont really want to take them off the wall. Air in a can can work to blow dust off but that can get messy in the house. A good horse brush works well , brush the dust off and then hair sheen .

[Woodchuck]

i use a vacuum with the little soft bristle attatchment and just brush with the grain

[Buckmark]

I use a product called Mount Brite, works great but i heard it is discontinued  .
Not sure if there is a simular product available? Charlie?

[Coasthunterjay]

i use a vacuum with the little soft bristle attatchment and just brush with the grain

I agree with this...For new mounts that your just keeping up on, a soft brush vacumn attachments is one of the best tools for cleaning a mount. Remember when you do your cleaning a downward movement is best, much like you would oiling a teak table top and following the grain of wood....

But taking care of your mounts is not a big thing...

Like iceman said, its all in the taker of the mount....you keep up on it, itll look good..you neglect it it wont.



Hey buckmark i use the seybrite for my severely dirty mounts and i get it from VanDykes taxidermy supply....I think it might be the same thing...But it works!has a trophy cleaner and sheen and shield for afterwords...kind of like a conditioner...

Ive used this several times and boy is it good stuff! 

[boneaddict]

The lifespan of your mount will also be determined by what kind of tan that is used on it.   There are many types of tan out there with varying degree of longevity.  Some examples for simplicity would be dry tan versus what a tannery might do, or for you do it yourselfers...mckenzie tan etc.  Other things that effect the lifespan and condition of the  mount would be exposure to sun, moisture, cigarette smoke, BUGS etc.   

[260Rem]

Thanks guys.

[Wild Bill]

I thought you were asking how to take care of your taxi....
Pretty easy.... I just give charlie most of my money.... Seems pretty happy to me

[Coasthunterjay]

I thought you were asking how to take care of your taxi....
Pretty easy.... I just give charlie most of my money.... Seems pretty happy to me

Oh jeeze...yup that would work...! lol...