Restoring color to Antlers

[marshman]

Got an old set of horns here I let hang on the woodshed too many years, they got faded. What can I do to restore the natural color?
It matters to me because this is my first buck shot in 1978. In case you're wondering this is a very nice 3X4 Coastal Blacktail.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

There are some good threads on taxidermy forums using potassium permanganate for that purpose.

 

[smw110136]

A buddy of mine does euro mounts and uses a mixture with coffee grounds as a stain. Maybe look into that method. Especially if you have grounds on hand already

 

[Ben Long]

I knew a taxidermist who rubbed antlers with used 30-weight motor oil. I cannot vouch for the method. But if it works for you, please let me know.

 

[Cheese Curd]

Paint antlers with white latex paint and let dry - make sure it doesn’t dry with any drip marks. Then take some oil paint (burnt umber, yellow ochre, a little black) put in a cup or glass jar. Add some paint thinner and mix it up. Then use a paint brush or rag to coat antlers with mixture. Then use a dry paper towel or rag to wipe off mixture from antlers. Wipe lightly to leave darker color in low spots. Wipe harder to remove more color from high spots and especially near tips of antlers. Let dry for a couple days. Spray with something like Krylon matte to seal it and you’re done. I have done this on whitetail replicas and it worked well. You might need to play with the colors a bit or put on another coat in some areas to get the look you want. You could practice on a spare antler first to see how it would work for you.

 

[2rocky]

Minwax Antique Oak and Mud

 

[David658]

There are some good threads on taxidermy forums using potassium permanganate for that purpose.

Stuff works very well, and stains deeply. Very poisonous, though. I use it on powder horns to age them. Just get some similarly faded antler pieces and see what you need to do for "dwell" time to get the right color.

David
NM

 

[Redman]

A good quality wood stain and a satin clear coat finish. Test color on a scrap piece of antler first and then on a small part of the antler you are actually using. You can use the same stain on different sets of antlers and they won't look the same. Not sure if it is because of bone density or age. The clear coat prevents them from future fading.

 

[SAJ-99]

Experimented this week with an elk antler.
First two pictures are the before, inside and outside.



Then I stained the inside with provincial wood stain on bottom half and coffee on top half. (Ignore the accident near the tip of antler)



Then the outside with coffee. Problem 1, it can take off some of the natural color. Problem 2, it can be a little yellow. Consequently I wouldn’t recommend coffee.


Final attempt included all kinds of stuff like graphite (which is good but tends to look gray) and some face paint with a final very quick coat of stain (prov). The stain recolor the best, but it is very uniform in color and loses the “natural” variation in tone.