Powder horn care and maintenance

[DanL]

I performed a search but came up short on info.

How should one clean and care for their powder horns? Cleaning and protective products compatible with horn material?

[Ghillie]

One important item to remember is that Dermistid beetles can eat at horn material.  To protect from them, place a piece of no pest strip in a bag or box with the horns.  Otherwise you may one day open the box to find grooves eaten into the horns

[bigsmoke]

Personally, I never clean my horns, but if you want to, here is what I would do.  My assumption here is that the horn is smooth and you are just wanting to remove accumulated grease and grime.

Use a soft piece of cloth.  Dampen it and add a bit of liquid dishwashing detergent (I use Dawn in my kitchen, so that is what I would use for this.  I really don't think it matters which brand all that much.).  Wash the horn until the accumulated dirt, grease and grime is gone.  Then with another soft cloth, dry and buff the horn.  Set aside and let air dry completely.

Get a can of hardwood floor paste wax (I happen to prefer MinWax, but any good wax will do).  Scoop a bit out and rub it onto the horn until all the surfaces are covered.  You don't need a lot, just enough to thoroughly cover the horn.  I just use my hand for this, but a soft cloth will also do.  When the wax is completely dry, come back again with another soft cloth and buff to a nice luster.

Soft cloths are fine, but I have found the blue paper shop towels you can get at hardware or auto supply stores work great.

Should your horn have fine work on it, like engrailing, etc.  you will want a soft bristled toothbrush to clean the dry paste wax out of those areas.

Good advice from Ghillie regarding the carpet beetles.  You can also use moth balls to protect from them.  A little dab will do ya, so don't overdo it.  I imagine the no pest strip would smell better.

OK, that's what I would do if I were to clean my horns, which I don't.  And don't forget, YMMV.

John (Bigsmoke)

[Jeff Murray]

A couple of thoughts.  You might also want to oil the base plug and stopper.  Wood tends to shrink as it dries out and the base plug may begin to separate from the horn.  This really depends on the age of the horn, humidity and how the wood was sealed originally.  If the horn was made back east and you live out west in dry climate, the shrinkage can become visible.  If you are dealing with a horn that has been decorated with designs and you "scrub" it with a brush, you could remove highlighting stain or dye from the design grooves in the horn.  You might test a small area before doing the entire horn.  Horns can also start to peel or split with age and exposure to weather so maintaining them with wax as mentioned above is a good idea.

[Tim Crosby]

 I want them to be "Dirty" somewhere that becomes "Patina". I work to make them look that way.
 Now if your talking bugs, spray a little "Raid" on a cloth and put it in the container you have horns in. I have 70 to 80 finished horns here all the time that sit in cloth bags and at least that many raw, dozens of raw cut rings and tips and have Never had a bug problem.

   Tim

[TDM]

Knock on wood I’ve never had a bug problem. But I do go over my horns with Renaissance wax about twice a year.

[Dutch Blacky]

Like as TDM  wrote, I also think, one important thing is to take care of all the horns regularly , at least every half year.

Martin Rywell has written in his book "THE POWDER FLASK" (1959)


"How to treat old powder horns

Old horns become dried out and should be treated with Neatsfood or other animal oil to cracking."

"HOW TO CLEAN POWDER HORNS AND HORN POWDER FLASKS
Wash or bath of thick soap suds. Use Ivory Flake Soap. Wipe dry. Apply wax floor paste very sparingly. Brush gently with very soft brush."

[Prairie dog shooter]

My buffalo horn needs waxing often.

[Beaverman]

If you want to keep Buffalo horns conditioned but not wax shiny use a good lanolin cream such as bag balm, I have a buf horn I made 16 years ago and looks like the day I finished it feeding it every 4 months or so with a coat of bag balm, rubbed in with my bare fingers then a quick wipe with an old cotton rag to absorb any leftovers

[Dutch Blacky]

One important item to remember is that Dermistid beetles can eat at horn material.  To protect from them, place a piece of no pest strip in a bag or box with the horns.  Otherwise you may one day open the box to find grooves eaten into the horns

I got the tip to place a piece of old bread near the horns. The  Dermistid beetles like bread better than horn and so you can catch them and burn them. You only got to replace the bread every second day 

[Top Jaw]

I don’t really do anything to my contemporary horns. On originals I will occasionally apply something to add moisture, like olive oil, lanolin cream, etc. I’m not wanting to remove patina however. So this is a very light caring, and not rubbing hard.  I’ve heard of people putting Suntan lotion with UV blocker on newer horns to supposedly keep the dye from fading. I’ve never done that. But it may have some merit.

I personally don’t wax horns. Grunge is my friend when developing patina on a newer horn.  And I feel the wax inhibits this.  Also, if you ever want to go back and re-dye a horn or touch one up, wax makes this very difficult to do.

[j. pease]

Jim Dressler sprayed his horns with Raid. He always encouraged people to handle horns, thought oils from hands protected horns.

[davec2]

I have horns that I made 30 or more years ago and many more that I have made along the way.  We do have carpet beetles out here in So Cal and some of my raw horns have been attacked, so I know the bugs are around.  Many years ago I was refurbishing a cedar chest for my sister and used cedar oil to refresh the interior and restore what I have always believed was the natural bug repellant properties of cedar.  Personally I don't mind handling most chemicals, poisons, etc., (after all, the primary rocket propellants I use at work are mono methyl hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide !!!) but just wiping my horns down with cedar oil every now and again seems to have made them un-appetizing enough to keep the bugs away.

[Prairie dog shooter]

Beverman,
Thanks for the tip on bag balm.

[Marcruger]

I spray the inside of each with Raid or Bengal. I wet a cloth with same and lightly wipe the outside. My horns live inside in hvac. They seem to be doing just fine.

[Ghillie]

The comment to put bread near the horns to attract the beetles sounds like baiting them to your prized horns.  Like putting out Japanese beetle traps.  Only then you put them away from the roses and other plants you are trying to protect.  Putting them near the plants only attracts them there for damage to your prized plants.  I worked in pest control for 28 years.

[Dutch Blacky]

One important item to remember is that Dermistid beetles can eat at horn material.  To protect from them, place a piece of no pest strip in a bag or box with the horns.  Otherwise you may one day open the box to find grooves eaten into the horns

I got the tip to place a piece of old bread near the horns. The  Dermistid beetles like bread better than horn and so you can catch them and burn them. You only got to replace the bread every second day 

The comment to put bread near the horns to attract the beetles sounds like baiting them to your prized horns.  Like putting out Japanese beetle traps.  Only then you put them away from the roses and other plants you are trying to protect.  Putting them near the plants only attracts them there for damage to your prized plants.  I worked in pest control for 28 years.

The old bread tip wasn't meant very seriously, although insect traps are not uncommon in forestry. Pheromone traps are used to attract bark beetles, but mainly to have an indicator of the infestation.