This would be a must if very deep green, a bottle green, color is desired. Preparation of the horn. In attempting to dye a horn that has dried and cured it will be found that the horn will not accept anything more than a surface dyeing. No matter how long you soak the horn in a dye bath you will gain little penetration of the horn by the dye. It is suggested that the horn first be boiled in clear water for several hours.
Horn is little more than a biological modification of hair.
The horn has a pronounced fibrous structure and these fibers form layers, or laminations, in the horn. Horn is nearly identical to human finger nails. The microscopic pores in a horn are actually very minute spaces that occur along the bundles of hairs that make up the structure and along minute gaps between the layers, or laminations. The mineral pigment dye solutions will not tolerate boiling water temperatures without breaking down. It is then best to boil the horn in water to saturate any available pore space with water.