Skull bleaching question

[overkill]

LAST EDITED ON Jan-20-08 AT 11:13PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Jan-20-08 AT 11:13?PM (MST)

I'm in the process of bleaching my ELk skull and have a few questions. Although I did not boil the skull, I soaked it in water for 2 days and I was able to scrap off around 98% of the flesh. My plan is to mix up some baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to form a paste, coat the skull and wrap it in plastic for a day or two. My question is with the very small amount of flesh remaining, will the peroxide clean it off, or must the skull be completely clean before I try and whiten it? I would like to avoid boiling it if I can. Thanks for your time and all your tips are appreciated.

 

[swbuckmaster]

Not a taxidermist maybe Packout will answer this and give his professional opinion.

I will give my opinion take it for what its worth. I think it will stink like hell doing it the way you are doing it and I don't believe it will take off the flesh.

I did a coyote skull by soaking it in water for a few months ?I know it soaked longer than you soaked yours? and I puked several times trying to scrape the meat off. This was my first try at doing a European mount. I than came up with the idea to than boil it to get the stink off. Puked some more. After I changed the water several times I eventually got all the meat off. I used a past I got off the internet to whiten the skull and it didn't get as white as some of the ones I have did since. It still had a smell to it so I gave it to my nephew ha ha. He loves it and the smell has since gone away.

By the way why don't you want to boil it?



Archery is a year round commitment!!

 

[overkill]

LAST EDITED ON Jan-21-08 AT 00:42AM (MST)[p]The skull was stripped for the most part since October, soaked two days ago, and and cleaned it more today. Surprisingly the smell is very, very faint, not strong at all so you hardly smell it. The reason why I do not want to boil it is because of time contraints. A large pan will need to be found and I don't really have the time to needed to babysit an open flame.

P.S. Why was the smell so strong? Did you try and cape the skull before soaking it, or did you plop the entire head into the water?

 

[elkhuntr]

LAST EDITED ON Jan-21-08 AT 07:28AM (MST)[p]Overkill, The peroxide paste won't remove the rest of the flesh. It will soften it up and you can scrape some more off. You might try soaking it in a strong mixture of dawn dish soap and water for several days. This will soften it up and also pull the grease out of the bone. If you you were closer I would clean it with my beetles. If you do end up boiling it put some sal soda in the water and this will soften it up. If you have any more questions let me know.
Elkhuntr

 

[Blackdeath]

Overkill, here is what you have to do. First the skull isn't quite clean enough (obviously). Soak it for another week or two. If you can keep the water warm by using an aquarium heater (Walmart approx. $24.00) it will work even better. You need bacteria to form and eat the remaining flesh. Bacteria forms better in warm water. Keep the temperature around 80 to no more than 90 degrees. If you get much above 100 degrees you risk cooking the skull. At the lower temperature you will not hurt it, nor will the bone become soft. After another week or two use a scrub brush and a tooth brush to remove any remaining bits of flesh (although I suspect there won't be much if anything left to scrub off.) Then you MUST degrease the skull. Put the skull in a clean bucket, fill with warm water and put in about a cup of Dawn liguid dish soap. Preferably the clear Dawn, not the blue. Put your aquarium heater in the bucket and adjust it for 80 degrees. Leave it sit in the water for a week. Change the water and put it in for another week. It is very important that you get all the grease out or it will have ugly yellow stains. After you have done all this, let the skull dry. Then soak the skull in 3% peroxide for 24 hours. You can buy it over the counter at most any drug store or Walmart. After the peroxide, rinse it off and set it in the sun for a few days. It will turn very white and you'll be all kinds of happy. Try to short-cut steps and you'll likely not be so happy with the end result. Oh, and was already mentioned peroxide will not remove any remaining flesh, and whatever you do, DO NOT USE BLEACH!!!

 

[overkill]

Thanks guys. I am a bit concerned about leaving it in water for a week or two. It seems like after only two days in water, the bone seam running up from the nose, past the eyes and to the skull was flexing a bit. I had heard that if soaked too long that the plates can start to separate. With the flexing I get now, is this a concern?

 

[AWHOLELOTTABULL]

I have a skull that I bleached. I did boil it and then took it to a car wash to get the last little bit of flesh off. It worked out great. As far as the bleach, a taxidermy friend of mine mixed it up so I'm not sure what was in it. It didn't take long and it turned out great.

It's always an adventure!!!
www.awholelottabull.com

 

[Bambistew]

Boil that sucker up and be done with it in half a day. The maseration process is to slow for me.

 

[JimmyA]

I have used the skull bleaching kit they sell in Cabelas and it worked great.

I used it on the buck I got last year in colorado. I wasn't able to use the kit until about two weeks after I killed it. I got my truck stolen in vegas on the way home. When the truck was recovered and we finally got it back to california, the skull was nice and full of maggots. I boiled the skull with the sodium bi-carbonate that comes in the kit the very same day I got my truck back. I would say that it only took about 1-1/2 days total to finish the job (including bleaching.)

JimmyA

 

[vitalzone]

LAST EDITED ON Jan-22-08 AT 07:37PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Jan-22-08 AT 07:34?PM (MST)

LAST EDITED ON Jan-22-08 AT 07:33?PM (MST)

try boiling it in a mix of water and a very little dish soap,its made to cut grease,in this case break down the fat and oils in the protein,use a mild brush to keep scrubing off everything other than bone,after that be sure to use a air compressor,picks ,what ever it takes to get all matter out of all nasal passages,brain cavity,all those little nooks and craneys on that skull,you will see there are many,this is important.Go to a profesional beauty salon and buy their peroxide,I can not remember the percentage but soak the skull in it,not the antlers in this for a few days,check it daily to see the progress,if you can do it in sunlight,it helps.When it is pure white rince off and dry,spray it with a matte latex spray paint,very lightly, just to seal.Never use bleach,this dissolves bone.Use super glue to secure teeth and to reassamble the end of the nose that will fall off in boiling.Be sure to clean off all discoloring on those teeth when you are boiling.By the looks of your skull it needs alot off work,it has a whole layer of protein that must be removed,get after it,it will be worth it

 

[archeryonly]

I have boiled many skulls and whitened them also. You do not want to use bleach because it eats away at the bone and makes it chalky. You have the right idea with hydrogen Peroxide but you want to mix it with magnesium sulfate. You can get all of your whitening supplies at Research Manikans on the web. You also might want to get a degreaser which you would do prior to applying the magnesium/peroxide paste.

 

[SilenceBreaker]

I have also herd the skull bleaching kit out of Cabela's works well.

 

[Bambistew]

Regular dishwashing detergent (for a dishwasher) works well. Its made to break down protien, and also will degrease.

Don't 'boil' the skull, simmer it just below a boil, the bones won't fall apart and the teeth won't fall out if you don't over do it. Simmer it for 20-30 min take it out and scrape, 3-4 times and you've got 98% of it done. The hardest part is the tough sinew on the back/bottom of the skull where it attaches to the neck. Its not visible so I do what I can and call it good.

If the meat/juicy stuff is hydrated it will go much faster than if its dried up. An elk takes a bit longer than a deer, maybe an hour longer, but all in all I can usually get one cleaned and ready to soak in peroxide or paste it in about 3-4 hours tops.

Another trick for degreasing is to soak the skull in white gas, or accetone over night. Make sure you leave it outdoors, and cover is best you can. Another good reason to 'boil' a skull is that it opens the pores up in the bone, resulting in better degreasing and whitening.

I've boiled 25-30, masserated 2-3, and 'bugged' over 1000. The bugs are the way to go but thats usually not an option for the average guy, boiling is second on my list and then masseration. I hate the smell, gook, and nastyness of letting them soak for days in water. They don't turn out any better IMO than boiling either. I guess there is a little less work involved, but not much.

Good luck.

 

[overkill]

It is starting to look like theer is no way around boiling if I really want to do this correctly.

 

[OutdoorWriter]

One of the best degreasers is Arm & Hammer's Super Washing Soda.

For the bleaching process, you need what they call "20 volume clear developer" in the hair salon trade. I believe that means it's 20% hydrogen peroxide mixed with water and a couple other chemicals. -TONY

 

[berto]

when "simmering" to remove flesh, add one cup of simple green per gallon water. simple green is an excellent degreaser. once boiled and flesh removed, sinus tissue removed, etc. use 40 volume (%) peroxide cream from the beauty supply store to whiten the skull. wear rubber gloves, wipe on the cream everywhere you desire the skull to whiten, mist the skull lightly with water morning and evening for up to one week (one week if indoors, less time if outdoors exposed to sunlight). rinse the skull with water and if you like the color, you are done. if not, recream and mist for a few more days.

 

[nv_hunter]

A taxidermy friend of mine goes to the local beauty supply store and get the dry bleach powder used for doing hair. Mixxs it into a paste and applys. Works great and its cheap.

 

[deerhuntsalot]

DO NOT MIX THE PEROXIDE WITH BAKING SODA, i think it de-activated the peroxide. use sodium bicarbonate or something like that name.

 

[deerhuntsalot]

ITS MAGNESIUM CARBONATE to mix the peroxide with, my mistake

 

[overkill]

>LAST EDITED ON Jan-22-08
>AT 07:37?PM (MST)
>
>LAST EDITED ON Jan-22-08
>AT 07:34?PM (MST)
>
>LAST EDITED ON Jan-22-08
>AT 07:33?PM (MST)
>
>try boiling it in a mix
>of water and a very
>little dish soap,its made to
>cut grease,in this case break
>down the fat and oils
>in the protein,use a mild
>brush to keep scrubing off
>everything other than bone,after that
>be sure to use a
>air compressor,picks ,what ever it
>takes to get all matter
>out of all nasal passages,brain
>cavity,all those little nooks and
>craneys on that skull,you will
>see there are many,this is
>important.Go to a profesional beauty
>salon and buy their peroxide,I
>can not remember the percentage
>but soak the skull in
>it,not the antlers in this
>for a few days,check it
>daily to see the progress,if
>you can do it in
>sunlight,it helps.When it is pure
>white rince off and dry,spray
>it with a matte latex
>spray paint,very lightly, just to
>seal.Never use bleach,this dissolves bone.Use
>super glue to secure teeth
>and to reassamble the end
>of the nose that will
>fall off in boiling.Be sure
>to clean off all discoloring
>on those teeth when you
>are boiling.By the looks of
>your skull it needs alot
>off work,it has a whole
>layer of protein that must
>be removed,get after it,it will
>be worth it


When you say there is a layer of protein, what are you referring to? There are a several small sinuous peices of tissue sticknig to the skull. Other than that its all bone showing. IS that what you are refering to?

 

[overkill]

Thanks for that tip, I read on the net taht someone had made up a paste using those two ingredients.

 

[swbuckmaster]

Here is a link for the magnesium and peroxide. Larry will send it out to you and get it to you in just a couple of days.

http://www.bowhunting.net/taxidermy/europeanskull.html

I have been using it to do my European mounts. It works great! I boil my skulls with some kind of detergent, don't think it matters too much if you use simple green or dawn or arm and hammer just as long as you use a degreaser.

Don?t get your water too hot! Most people call it boiling your skull this will crack the hell out of it and make your teeth fall out. I slow cook it kind of like using a crock pot. The meat just falls off.

Change your water often this helps get the grease out. I have two pots boiling at the same time so I can dump the water out of one and put the skull in another.

Also use rubber gloves to handle your skull or your own oils from your skin can darken your skull where you touch it the most while scraping the flesh off.

Here is my cougar skull.

It took me about two days to finish it my self. It cost 40 dollars for the whitening products, about three dollars for a can of clear coat, still have not purchased a plaque yet, and my time I could have been working and earning a wage.

In the end it turned out awesome. I got it done in two days a lot faster than a taxidermist can usually do it, BUT it cost me a hell of a lot more than a taxidermist can do it. ?I don't know how they make any money on these things.? My suggestion would be to find a good taxidermist that likes doing your skulls like ?PACKOUT on this forum, he does a hell of a job?. Your wife will appreciate you more especially if she sees you boiling one on the stove.




Archery is a year round commitment!!