European mount issues ?

[Elite]

Hello so I recently attempted my first euro mount. Here is the process I did. Skinned the head. Lightly simmered it for 5 hours. not boil. Pressure washed all the big chunks off simmered again for only 30 mins then removed all the small meat left. I then mixed some volume 40 peroxide with some bleach whitener. Wrapped it in some plastic wrap then put it in front of a small electric heater for about 23 hours. Seemed to work good but now some of the bones are starting to look transparent and cracking? There is also still some yellow that I can not remove. I am wondering what I did wrong or what is causing these issues?

Thanks in advance

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[jmez]

There is grease/fat in the bone. That is causing the yellowing and discoloration. You need to degrease it. Soak the skull in white gas/lantern fuel for 3-4 days. Let dry then whiten again.

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[MTElk1987]

I’ve had good luck submerging skulls in dawn soap for a week.

 

[Fatcamp]

How old was the skull? When was it killed in relation to when you did this?

Did you use a degreaser in your initial boil?

I simmered in a peroxide/water mix and it worked well for whitening, but had different results depending on the age of the head.

I did my first skulls this fall. Did 5 total that were killed a year before, a month before, and a couple days before. I will never leave the field without skinning my head's ever again. The fresher the head, and the more mature the animal, the better the results.

jmez sounds like he has dealt with your issue before.

 

[Elite]

The skull was only about a month old and it’s been only 2 days since i put the peroxide on it. The first boil I had dawn soap and the second boil was baking soda in the water. I agree the yellow would be grease. But still not sure why the bone went transparent like that in some spots.


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[Fatcamp]

Being new to this I can't give you any solid answers, only observations.

I simmered my skulls for about an hour in degreaser and was able to get rid of 90% of the flesh. Another 15-20 minutes and they looked pretty good. I let them dry and used a knife on the little bits and pieces that we're left which had them looking really nice.

I did my freshest skull last when my water was hot and my solution was pretty strong. Half and half water to 40% peroxide. I only left it in for ten minutes, sprayed it off, and then for another five before a good solid rinse.

My guess is the combination of not using a degreaser, simmering for five hours, and leaving peroxide on for so long combined to give you what you see now. I started to see weakness in several of my skulls so I stopped messing with the older ones and will just accept some discoloration. My final and freshest skull came out really nice so I am confident that from here on out I have it dialed in.

 

[Elite]

I did add dawn soap to the first boil then added baking spray for the second


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[Fatcamp]

I did add dawn soap to the first boil then added baking spray for the second


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Ya, I saw that. I followed the YouTube video from Whitebone Creations. I like Dawn for general cleaning but I'm not sure it is useful for this application. I used Crud Cutter, and it really worked well.

Like I said, I'm new to this, but I believe a stronger degreaser is in order. Could be wrong too.

 

[silverbullet555]

I used borax to do mine. Something to degrease it in a pot of boiling water.

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[jspradley]

Ya, I saw that. I followed the YouTube video from Whitebone Creations. I like Dawn for general cleaning but I'm not sure it is useful for this application. I used Crud Cutter, and it really worked well.

Like I said, I'm new to this, but I believe a stronger degreaser is in order. Could be wrong too.

White Bone creations method is pretty much the tits!

To the OP- Is it completely dry? If not it'll still look a little transparent.

5 hours is WAY too much boiling, you might have boiled some of the grease into the skull.

Check out Whitebone creations, he has a video about degreasing hog skulls that might help.

 

[Loebs]

Sounds like too long of a boil. I only simmer with a scoop of borax, long enough to loosen the meat. The longer it "cooks" the more the bone will get brittle and seem to shrink a bit. I don't like mine ultra bright white, so I only put in peroxide for about 10 minutes.

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[amack26]

I know I'm a little late to the party. I have done all three of my deer skulls and a handful of others from friends and family, The process for me took about 6 hours total. I skinned the skull and removed as much meat as possible. simmered for an hour in soapy water (about a quarter bottle of dawn) pulled it out every hour to pressure wash away the excess meat Changing the water each time. After 3 hours the skulls were completely stripped of any tissue (including the nasal cavity). I mixed Used 2 gallons of 40 volume bleach and filled the rest with water. I boiled initially for an hour and had some spots like that. I just boiled longer in the bleach until it was white all over.

 

[chindits]

I just bury the skull in the yard for a month then wash the dirt off when I dig it up. I don’t like white skulls. They look fake.

 

[bsnedeker]

I just bury the skull in the yard for a month then wash the dirt off when I dig it up. I don’t like white skulls. They look fake. View attachment 86070

Second this! I like the antique look on my skulls. These blazing white skulls look plastic to me.

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[Tony Trietch]

Just boiled it to long. I have been guilty of it myself a couple times. I simmer for maybe 60-90.

 

[Idahomnts]

Might add that I believe bleach “dries” them out and makes it brittle

 

[oakdeiros80]

Yeah, my understanding is that bleach is bad for the bone. Peroxide is better. Some other non-chlorine pool product is supposed to also work well for whitening, but I can't remember the name. But before whitening, you have to thoroughly de-grease. I use OxyClean in the initial boil, but there are many other options too. I think the long, hot boils cause a lot of shrinkage, so I try to keep it short and pressure wash after to help remove the meat and cartilage.

 

[Ace12]

Skin and remove as much meat as possible, then Once water comes to a boil only put the head in for 30 min and power wash. The longer the head boils the softer/more brittle the bones get. Use a paste bleach from any hair salon and brush it on and set it somewhere for a couple days where it can get sun light. 100% agree though the sooner you get it done after harvest the better

 

[Chadd]

I boiled my first skull four hours. This years I did the same process in 2 hours and it looks better.