Cleaning oil off horns Aoudad

[davetexas]

I shot a beautiful aoudad with horns measuring 34.5 and 32.4 inches. The cape was in bad shape because the animal was very old so I decided on a European mount. My father in law took it to a local guy that has done tons of deer for us and I assumed he knew what he was doing.

Best I can tell he applied oil to the horns which I know now is a big no no. The oil made the horns very dark and I don't like them. Is there any possibility that I can clean them with dish soap or other detergent?

 

[BRICKBURN]

I have cleaned some horns with soap. Oryx horns that are black.
I do not know what will happen to a "blond horn" if you use soap and water on it.
I fear it would not be good.

 

[buck wild]

hot water and a mild soap with a bristle brush but yeah that oil has probably soaked in already enough to cause the damage. I know this sounds crazy but I have used it lots of times to clean horns, not sure it'll lighten them. 2 cups of bleach to 5 gallons of water. Soak horns for 8 hrs. Pull out and rinse horns, let dry. It wont change color much but maybe you'll get something from it. I've never tried a stronger bleach solution so not sure what happens but bleach is a bad thing if you know what I mean!!! You could also get a block of bees wax from the local hobby store, soften the wax (hair dryer or paint stripper gun) and rub into the horns. The natural yellow color will bring back a lighter color and the wax is really good at filing in the cracks etc that can be caused by boiling. I use this a lot on africa horns.


There are some other bleaching methods that MIGHT lighten them back up but you always run risk of really messing them up.

 

[harden]

There are NO bleach solutions that will change the color back and it will break down the horn left to long. Don't try it you'll regret it
The ONLY way and I say ONLY way to bring it back to it's natural color is to base paint it and then airbrush it to color. It's a lot of work and takes quite a but of skill and experience to do it. We do.
You can wash it of you choose it will do some but very little. The Keratin in the horn has been boiled and raised to the surface/ OIL / you can't reverse it. Sorry to be so blunt but it is what it is.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Rather someone tells it like it is Dennis

 

[davetexas]

Absolutely! Thank you for your professional and honest opinion!

So you think this is the result of boiling the skull versus added oil on the horns?

I've showed it to multiple friends and they all like it so maybe I'm in the minority but they will be in my house. Oh well. Thank you again to all who posted!

 

[CAustin]

Get a big trash can and place the horns in. Then fill with Kitty litter to soak away as much of the oil as possible over a couple of days then wash them.