How to clean and repair older fish mounts?

[hoggs222]

My parents are moving into a smaller house, so I inherited my Dads fish mounts. A couple of walleyes, a northern and a greyling.

First off, They are covered in dust. How do you clean them? Any special cleaners out there for fish mounts?

Second, a few of the fins are broken and just hanging there. What type of adhesive should I use to get a strong bond, without hurting the skin of the fish?

[LOTWSvirgin]

You could always talk to a taxidermist to see if he can do a bit of touch up for yah. ZI just use the air in a can for my mounts

[hoggs222]

Forgot to add that I'm trying to do this without spending any money.

These have about 20 years of dust on them. I'm just not sure if any household cleaners or types of glue will hurt them.

I was almost thinking of just using a damp cloth to clean them.

[Greybeard53]

Just use warm water with Dawn detergent on a damp cloth to clean the heavy dust.

For fin repair, you can use super glue gel (the gel keeps it from running where it doesn't belong. Those two things will make a big difference.

In the future though, check with a taxidermist. You'd be amazed how good those mounts can look after some airbrushing, and fin repair.

[harvey lee]

Be very careful using and type solvent on the fish as it could damage the paint.

First I would wipe it down with a dusting rag of some type. Then maybe a damp dusting cloth but just damp. I would also wipe with the scales as you do not want to wipe against the scales or you could loosen one or tear it off. Then you will see that spot with the scale missing.Wipe from the head to the tail.

For the inside of the mouth and gill area, take a can of compressed air and blow that area out well.

If you knew what type sealent was applied over the paint, you could give it a shot to shine it back up. Since we do not know that, best to leave it alone,

Not knowing how bad the fins are damaged as in a crack or a piece missing, its hard top say the best method to repair it.

If there is a small piece of the fin missing like a corner, get yourself a piece of acetate and use contact cement and cover the backside of the whole fin. Let it dry well and then trim the edges to the fin shape with a very sharp sissors. If you use contact cement on the fin, cut the acetate first to size, then add the cement to the back of the fin lightly and put the acetate to the back of the fin.

One thing you can also do to help hold the acetate in place and tight on the edges is too add a few paper clips around the fin holding the acetate to the fin. Do not let the contact cement go out over the edge of the acetate too much or it could stick the papper clip to the acetate and it will be harder to remove the paper clip.

If the fin has cracks in it, there are ways to repair it but that will take putty, and some fin pattern markings put back into the fin and then paint. That best be done by someone who can repaint the fin.

If I understand that the fin is justy hanging there like it is broke away from the body, one can use a very good fast dglue or a clear colored putty to hold it back in its spot to the body. Be very careful to not run any glue on the fish where it is painted as the glue will leave a spot on the fish and more than likely will damage the paint.

[delcecchi]

My uncle was a taxidermist of the old school. If they of this age, the skin is over a plaster of paris body. It was tanned in some noxious chemical solution first. Then it was painted with oil type artists paint. Finally it was varnished. Sorry I don't recall what type exactly of varnish or shellac was used. (That's why old mounts look sort of yellow, the varnish changes color). I don't think a damp rag or even a can of pledge would hurt it. As for gluing the fins, maybe glue made for glass and china? Or superglue?

[bucketmouth64]

Know anyone that has a portable steamer? I have one of those shark steamers that puts out a good burst of steam to clean surfaces. No chemicals.

[Walleye Guy]

Find a canister vacumm that has a hose attachment and the tool with the "hair" on the nozzle. If the vacuum has a suction adjustment even better. Use the vacuum to take off as much dust as you possibly can. A damp cloth can be used after the vacuuming. Don't use any solvents or soaps. The solvent can damage the paint and the soap can leave a residue.

[Finlander]

I use a vacuum cleaner and attach the fine brush attachment that can loosen up the dust particles while it takes away the dust rather than just blowing it in the air.

[Surface Tension]

Vac brush and then Windex and soft cloth.