Skull cleaning preference question

[InkedElkSlayer]

If you guys are interested, I’ll get some pics of the cylinder showing the fittings and post them. Fill 1 end with the hose, then the fitting up top with a gas line gated wye. Skull is simply in a trash bag, electrical tape around the pedestals. Blows up like a balloon.

 

[Grundy53]

If you guys are interested, I’ll get some pics of the cylinder showing the fittings and post them. Fill 1 end with the hose, then the fitting up top with a gas line gated wye. Skull is simply in a trash bag, electrical tape around the pedestals. Blows up like a balloon.

I would definitely be interested

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[PaHunter86]

I would definitely be interested

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Same here

 

[InkedElkSlayer]

Some pics…

 

[sahunter06]

Some pics…

View attachment 446918View attachment 446919View attachment 446920

Now that’s slick.

 

[HiMtnHntr]

Cook, pressure wash, done in half a day. I don't save nasal bones anymore. I use high volume peroxide if I want it really white.

 

[PaHunter86]

I'm going to give this a try this coming season!

 

[muddydogs]

The method that I perfected is the simmer, pressure wash then simmer white technique.

I simmer the skull for 15 to 20 minutes in Dawn dish washing liquid, I like to see the tissue on the bridge of the nose split which doesn't always happen.

Once this tissue splits I pressure wash the skull with an electric pressure washer putting out 2800 psi, to much psi can damage the bone. During this wash I remove the nasal bones and ear buds also drilling a hole behind the ear buds so the brain has some place to squirt out while washing. Wear rain pants, a face shield and keep your mouth closed as it gets messy. Most of the time the skull will be clean but with a stubborn skull I might simmer it another 5 or 10 minutes then pressure was again.

Once the skull is clean I mix up liquid or gel hair whitener with water at a 1 to 1 ratio place skull in the mix and heat to a simmer, as soon as it simmers pull the skull and pressure wash it. The whitener loosens up an little bits of tissue and seems to pull the last of the grease out of the skill very well as long as really whitening it. Plus this liquid gets everywhere and takes the hassle out of brushing on gel whitener. If I think the skull needs a little more white I will place it back into the simmer for 5ish minutes then just rinse off the whitener without pressure. For horned animals I use plastic wrap like is used to wrap pallets of stuff for shipment and electrical tape to seal the horns from the whitener as well as boards along the pot edge to hold the horns out of the simmer.

Within an hour or two I have a white skull drying almost ready to hang on the wall. My last final step is after the skull dries I apply a coat of Mop n Glow to seal the bone which makes it easier to keep dust off and gives the skull a slight sheen.

I store my whitener mix in a 5 gallon bucket with a good tight bucket lid. While not a long term study I used whitener that set outside for a year and it seems to whiten just as good as when I mixed it the year before. If I'm luck enough to need the whitener this year it will be 2 year old whitener that has whitened 5 heads so far.

 

[30338]

Well, I've tried the boil method and the maceration method again this Sept. Had a friend who needed one fast for taking out of state. I boiled, powerwashed, quick whitening boil and then covered in creme peroxide. This required me to remove the nasal bones. It looked good to me but I hated losing the nasal bones.

Just completed this one via maceration. It maintains all the nasal bones and the entire skull feels very solid. If I have time, this is still going to be my preferred method. I won't say no to boiling if someone needs one fast but this is a very good method.

 

[sndmn11]

@30338 can you do it that was WITHOUT whitening, or is the whitening needed for degreasing?

 

[Smtn10pt]

I've been cleaning a few skulls the last few years for friends and family. Using maceration, a slow stinky process, it preserves all the fine nasal bones and causes no structural damage to the skulls. I always kind of liked seeing the little nasal bones intact.

Now have been studying up more and more on boiling methods and may give that a run. It will eliminate all of the fine bones in the nose but seeing some really fast and very white skulls with it. Also for out of staters, the skulls can be done in 24 hours and ready to go. Big advantage there.

So my question to any Roksliders who care to answer is, would you prefer a fast very white skull albeit missing nasal cavity bones, or would you prefer those bones intact and a 3-4 week turn?

Simmer and use a low PSI pressure washer. You will preserve most if not all of those nasal bones and be done much faster.

 

[WCB]

@30338 can you do it that was WITHOUT whitening, or is the whitening needed for degreasing?

You don't need to whiten. You do have to degrease. So a simmer in some dawn dish soap. I have a bunch of skulls with zero whitening done.

 

[30338]

I tend to soak in dawn soap at 90 degrees to degrease. A guy could just let it dry in the sun a day or two and call it good after that. Would be less white but very nice still.

 

[sndmn11]

I tend to soak in dawn soap at 90 degrees to degrease. A guy could just let it dry in the sun a day or two and call it good after that. Would be less white but very nice still.

Cool. When I take mine to Jim I don't have him whiten, but for those heads that aren't worth spending the money on beetle cleaning this might be a good choice. I dislike the bright white and prefer the irregular tinge.

 

[doc holiday13]

I buried last years skull and protected it by putting a chicken brooding box over the top of it. buried it in October and pulled it in May. only required a very light scraping with a stick. the brain was full gone and nasal cavity was clean. I still need to boil in peroxide solution for full whiteness

 

[manitou1]

More important to me than the cleaning process itself would be having the skull degreased. If not degreased most will start to turn yellow over time, or atleast develop grease spots. I would happily wait a few weeks for a skull that was degreased rather than one that was cleaned in a day or so then returned to me.

If simmered in Oxy and Dawn it will degrease. I have done quite a few, with a bleaching solution afterwards and all are very white.
I also have no problem preserving the nasal bones. Yes it would be easier to rip them all out in the process, but a few extra measures if care results in a nice product.
If a person prefers "less than white" results, just skip the peroxide step and it will be natural bone color.

 

[30338]

I boiled this one using oxiclean and also sal soda. Power washed between boils. Its a lot more work than maceration for sure. Got a few in the rot pot and just keep checking temp and water level every couple days. This one did seem to turn out very nice though.