CLEANING A SCULL

[LarryS]

CAN ANYONE GIVE ME HELP WITH CLEANING A SCULL ? THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP. LARRY

That's SKULL Larry. Hang it on a tree--the birds will do it for you, over time.

[swp]

Boil it for a hour or two and then take a pressure washer to it. Or wait until spring and set it under a bucket with a few holes drilled in the side so the flyes and bugs can get to it.

[Lechwe]

I skin them out and cut as much meat off as possible. Scrammble the brains before boiling so they come out easily. Boil them and add dishwasher detergent to it to help cut grease and loosen things up. Don't use regular dish detergent as it will foam like mad.

You will have to pull it out and cut and pick at the meat to get most of it off. After most is off I use a garden hose and spray any extra of. The power washer would work great i just don't make the effort.

Once I have rinsed it I will normally change water and put new detergent in and boil just a little to get as much grease off as possible. Rinse again. Wrap seran wrap around the bases of the antlers and hold in place with electrical tape. Put them in a container and fill with regular 3% peroxide from walmarts. Leave in for 1-2 days and pull out and rinse with water. Set them in the window to dry in the sunlight.

 http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/95998103VyXefO

[NorthernCaliforniaHunter]

BOILING WILL DESTROY THE BONE!!!
DO NOT BOIL!! (Sorry guys, I've done this!!)

First, cut off as much of the flesh and skin with knives, razors, whatever.
SIMMER water, that is, get a pot of water almost to boil and keep it at that lower temp. Add LOTS of Oxi-clean, or similar oxygenating agent, available at your local market next to the other detergents. This step will take a long time, just simmer and periodically remove the gellied meat from the bone by scrapping. You'll know what I'm taking about, the oxiclean turns flesh into goo...
The brains will take a stiff wire.
You'll notice the teeth fall out if you're doing it right. Save 'em for later...

After the meat is all off, let the skull completely dry. Next, soak the skull overnight in hydrogen peroxide. You want the really strong stuff (20+%), not the brown bottle at your local pharmacy (3%). You can find it where hydroponic supplies are sold (you're local pot-head shop) or where industrial cleaning supplies are sold. If you use the weak stuff it may have to soak for significantly longer. Keep all antlers out of this stuff because it will bleach them white!
To get around this, soak the skull just up to the antler base and use gause on top of the skull and around the antler base to soak up the Hydrogen peroxide and bleach those parts.

When the skull is bleached to your satisfaction, let it dry again. Don't worry if some of the bone looks pinkish while wet with the hydrogen peroxide, it will dry white. Next glue the teeth that fell out in, and finish the job with a few coats of clear table top epoxy. The results are professional and stunning!

GOOD LUCK
 

[JimB]

Larry,first manualy trim as much meat off as you can.After that it is a good idea to wrap it in plastic for a few days so it won't dry out but the meat can spoil a little.that step really aids the process.Now simmer it in water to which you add a couple squirts of dishwashing liquid and a couple handfuls of baking soda.Don't hard boil,just simmer.If you hard boil,the meat will firm up and take longer to come off.Pull the skull out at least every hour and pick off any loose meat.You can scramble the brains with a screwdriver and flush them out with a garden hose.Keep an eye on the teeth as some will get loose and you may lose them.Don't ever pour out the water with out checking for teeth in the bottom.You can pour it through window screen to catch any teeth.Once it is completely clean,let it dry overnight.If there are any spots that look wet or waxy,that is grease.then you would have to degrease it by submerging it in acetone for as long as it takes.Do that outside.Remember,it is flammable.Often,deer and similar don't need degreasing.Bears usually do.After you are sure there are no grease spots,you can bleach it.I use hair bleach which is mixed into a paste.If you don't have that,some use dime store peroxide and soak it.I'm not sure about length of time for that but I would guess at least a day.Then set it in the sun to dry.Once dry,I seal with a coat of Future floor finish.After the finish dries,I glue any loose teeth,nazal bones etc with Elmers glue.The Future is water based and will soften the Elmers so do the Elmers after.It takes time to do a skull properly but if you do it right,this will produce a professional job that looks museaum quality.

[NorthernCaliforniaHunter]

OH, AND WEAR GLOVES if you use the strong H2O2

[Biggie Hoffman]

Another plus for living in the south...fireants.
Drop it on the mmound and come back in a few days.

[Jeff Sample]

Uncle Gene had an article in a recent PBS Magazine (or was it TBM) on how he does it.

[Toecutter]

Arm and hammer soda wash from stop and shop(i hate to give them a free plug!!). Same stuff(pretty much) as sal soda.  Cuts cook time in half.

[John Scifres]

A compost heap and 8 months will do it.  Set it out in the weather after you dig it up for another month and it will be beautiful  

[adeeden]

Digging a hole in the backyard and bury it for 4 or 5 months works well without much work!

[gsdmikko]

NorthernCaliforniaHunters got it right!!!  :cool:

[Mint]

The easiest way I have found is to put it in a sealed plastic bag then poke a hole or two in the bag with your finger. The flies will go in the bag and lay eggs on the skull, which hatch and are maggots. Give them a few weeks and you will have a pretty clean skull with even the brains gone. Then I just put it into water for a couple of hours and rinse off. The only problem is you really can't do this in the winter in the NE.

[John3]

I put my 2008 spring bear skull under a milk crate with a heavy weight on top, under my back deck.  In the shade, out of the rain and the flies just loved it.

Two weeks then I hosed it off.. Perfect finish and easy.

John III