Skull re-do

[Jody]

I see a couple of these a year. These ones were about three years old. The owner was always unsatisfied with the way they sent them back. About a week later and I've got them about as clean as I can get them. Now I just wish all the African skulls I get in would come with all their teeth.
The last one is just a spring bear that came in late..

Hard not to think about getting back to Africa doing this kind of work

 

[cpr0312]

Nice work! I'm sure the hunters will be pleased

 

[Ragman]

Nice! I have to redo a couple of mine as well. My baboon also oiled up really badly and I want to whiten it up. Impala too. Hartebeest and Gemsbok aren't bad, but I think I can get them looking better.

Great looking work!

 

[tedthorn]

How did you do it?

 

[CAustin]

Looking good Jody

 

[johnnyblues]

That's clean!

 

[Jody]

How did you do it?

Shoot me a pm I'll give you my # I'll be happy to walk you through it.
Too much typing...

 

[Bert the Turtle]

Nice recovery work! What did the first guy use to clean them, mud? I cleaned a deer skull for my son by wiring it to a post in my pond until the catfish had it cleaned off then bleached it in the sun and it came out looking better than those did before you fixed them. I am shocked that someone found an even more half-assed way to do it than I did.

 

[JimP]

The problem is grease that is in the skulls. Some animals have more than others and if not cleaned properly the grease will leach out over time.

When I am cleaning mine I like to use some Dawn dish soap in my cooking pot. I'll then dump that water and add some more Dawn. For deer and other antlered animals this is usually enough but for swine you might need to do it 3 or 4 times.

I'll then get some Basic White powder from a butition supply store and make a paste with some 40% peroxide and then paint it on with a 1" brush. Then wrap it up in a plastic garbage sack for a week and then rinse off with a hose. I might do this 2 or 3 times if I miss a couple of spots.

Everything comes out quite nice and white.

Loose and missing teeth is usually due to cooking too long or boiling the water. Along with them not gluing them back in if they are loose or missing.

 

[Ryan]

I can't top degreasing power of modern detergents like Dawn as mentioned. But I have learned bleaching is simpler than people make it out to be. I was talking to my local taxidermist and he said the high percentage stuff could go overboard. I concur after using it for a fallow deer skull that is a bit brittle now and have read it elsewhere of problems too. So when I cleaned and bleached a javelina in 2015 all I used for bleaching was plain 3-4% stuff from the store in a plastic bag with the top slightly open . The key was it was a fresh, full potency bottle because peroxide breaks down into water quickly after opening while bleaching. The bag needs to be slightly open to allow the oxygen that breaks down to escape.