Your trophy requires regular care to survive in the long term.
If your mount is in a controlled area – free from moisture, heat, and sunlight – you can clean your mount about once a month. If your trophy is in a high dust area, clean it twice per month. We recommend mixing up your own cleaning solution by combining a few drops of mild detergent (like Dawn dish soap) into a bucket of water. Just be careful while mixing that you don’t create any suds.
For both short haired and long haired trophies, use a damp (not soaked) rag to wipe down your mount in the natural direction of the animal’s hair. After wiping down an especially long-haired trophy, make sure to fluff the animals hair with compressed air, shop vac, or a hair dryer on a non-heat setting.
For cleaning the hard surfaces of the habitat, like rocks and driftwood, we suggest using compressed air to blow dust out of all the hard to reach places. In doing this it’s important to take special care when dusting the delicate features of the environment, like grasses and flowers.
A quick note about bird and fish trophies: Your bird and waterfowl trophies can be feather dusted, but never use anything wet when cleaning these types of mounts. Fish trophies are easily maintained by simply wiping with a damp rag, but be sure to pay special attention to avoid damaging the delicate fins.
Mammal Care: Clean your prized taxidermy trophies with a soft cloth misted a mild cleaner. Do not spray directly onto the mount itself. You do not want to saturate it, you need just enough to clean the dust off and have it stick to the cloth. Wipe with the lay of the hair – never brush the hair or fur back.
Antler and Horn Care: For antlered and horned species, use the same process with the cleaner and simply wipe them down with a soft cloth.
Eye Care: With a cotton swab and just enough 409® or glass cleaner to dampen it (not dripping wet), you can lightly clean the eyes. Be careful not to touch any painted surfaces around the eye itself.
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