How to clean old elk ivory?

[Laelkhunter]

Hydrogen peroxide will chew off the organic material.

It will also bleach the brown color out of them which made them look plain and ugly.

 

[Laelkhunter]

I put mine in a small ziplock with some salt and carry it in my pocket. The salt acts somewhat like a mild abrasive and scrubs them clean. Also the salt prevents the attached tissue from rotting. I usually do this right after removing them from the skull and by the time I get home from the trip (usually a couple days later), they are clean and the brown marbling (stain) is intact. I tried the peroxide overnight once and it took all the color out of them.