Antler staining tip here.

[30338]

I stumbled on what appears to be a common solution for staining antlers and sheds. I am always looking for ways to improve on skull cleaning and antler care. Had a velvet mule deer come in and the velvet was coming loose, pretty much falling off. So I cleaned the skulled and talked to the owner about coloring the very white antlers. He wanted it done so I researched in earnest.

Turns out potassium permanganate is one thing that will work well. I've used coffee grounds in the past as well. Order it online and a little bit will go a long ways. I did 1 tsp in a pint jar and its enough to do dozens of heads is my guess. Picture showed a bleached out shed, then with thin coat of postassium permanganate freshly applied. Don't freak, it turns a nice brown. After it dries, hit it would coarse steel wool to expose the elevated spots like a rubbed rack.

Things to avoid from what I can tell, mixing it to strong or applying to heavy. I taped and saran wrapped the skull to avoid staining it. You can always apply more coats if a darker color is desired. Good luck.

 

[EdP]

That worked very nicely. The color looks perfect to me.

Horns and antlers are protein based and need different dyes from cloth, much of which is vegetable based. Hair is also protein based so hair dyes will work on horn and antler also.