Wondering what anyone's experience(s) have been boiling out skull mounts? What type of detergent (agent) do you use? I am trying to attempt this for the 1st time.
Smoke14 Fan
I can say this, its tricky. I do it outside on the side burner of my grill, you have to get your temperature just right or you will have problems. You wanna get your water to a simmer, if its churning like a river its to hot. I dont use detergent until almost all the meat is gone, but when I do I use something with bleach alternative. After the boiling is done I like to take a peice of 220 grit sand paper and give it a light sanding. It seems to really help whiten things up. I like deer with dark antlers, so I also like to apply a little wood stain to the rack. You could also look it up on youtube. There are tons of how to's on the subject. Here is a picture of one I did last year. It turned out great.
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Skin it and get as much meat off as possible, make sure you clean out brain cavity very very good, miss any can get stinky. My biggest mistake i made my first time, is I boiled it inside, dont do that, stunk up house for a week. dont let water get on antlers will bleach it. I used dawn dish soap, and a basic laundry detergent. Cut through alot of the fat and grease easily, then use a brass brush, worked awesome, along with needlenose pliers a knife and flat head screwdriver just do a google search, so helpful.
I skinned my head out and got as much meat out as possible. Then(like said above)simmered water, I also add Soda Ash to break down the tissue, and cartlidge(saves time)
Once I get to the bare bone, I'll add some Dawn dish soap, then skull will sit till summer.
Buddy gets me the peroxide solution from his work, I soak entire skull(not horns)in the peroxide/water solution over night.
Then cover horns w/white cotton t-shirt, the sun does the rest. I will post pics tonight.
Once I get to the bare bone, I'll add some Dawn dish soap, then skull will sit till summer.
Buddy gets me the peroxide solution from his work, I soak entire skull(not horns)in the peroxide/water solution over night.
Then cover horns w/white cotton t-shirt, the sun does the rest. I will post pics tonight.
i like to let it sit in boiling water for 10 minutes in a mix of borax and non iodized salt,turn of the heat and let sit for another hour or so
then start scraping the meat out,use a toothbrush inside the brain cavity to get everything out.anything besides standard peroxide(for cuts and wounds)
can weaken the bone, so id stay away from anything from a beauty salon. when i soak in the peroxide, i put it into a sealed bag,with the antlers out of the top of the bag(the peroxide will stain them) and put the bag into the freezer for about 30 minutes, checking it every 10 minutes or so. hope this was helpfull.
then start scraping the meat out,use a toothbrush inside the brain cavity to get everything out.anything besides standard peroxide(for cuts and wounds)
can weaken the bone, so id stay away from anything from a beauty salon. when i soak in the peroxide, i put it into a sealed bag,with the antlers out of the top of the bag(the peroxide will stain them) and put the bag into the freezer for about 30 minutes, checking it every 10 minutes or so. hope this was helpfull.
I skin the head and clean the biggest part of the meat off including the brains and eyes.Then I bring the water up to a boil before adding the skull.I let it boil for an hour.Then I spend however long it takes (usually a few hours) cleaning it up really good with a sharp knife.Then I boil it again for 15 minutes with a little Dawn dish soap, a little vinegar and a little salt mixed in to help pull most of the rest of the greasy gunk out of the bone.Then I'll soak it for 3-5 days in peroxide and water.I use 3-4 of the big brown bottles of regular peroxide that Wally World carries for about a buck apiece.I figured out a neat little trick to keep the peroxide from bleaching out the antlers.What I do for that is brush on some melted wax to keep them from getting discolored.When it's done I'll heat the wax up with a lighter and wipe it off.
ukey:Is it just me or does anyone else want to "hurl" while reading these threads?
Do taxidermists do this and at what cost??
Around $50 and up is about what you can expect to pay a taxidermist to do it. If you want a plaque too then double that.
Skin. Boil for 4-6 hours. Scrape off remaining flesh. Take to car wash with power sprayer. Spray out every cavity. Watch the nose bones. Let skull dry out for couple months Peroxide paste to whiten.
I have been doing this for a while now. I have done several for myself and my friends, all with good results. It is a messy and stinky undertaking, but the end result is worth it.
1. Skin out the head removing as much meat as possible. When I say "as much as possible" I mean every little scrap you can get off. This will make the boiling step MUCH easier.
2. Unwrap a wire coat hanger, or simply find about 8" of very stiff wire. Insert this into the base of the skull and "scramble" the brain until it's mush.
3. Pick the brain out with a pc. of wire that you have made a small hook on the end of. If you have access to an air compressor and a blow nozzle, this part goes much faster, BUT it is also MUCH messier. Get the skull cavity as clean as possible using either method.
4. Using a turkey/fish fryer and a pot that is ONLY to be used for this stuff, bring a pot of water to a simmer. I add soda ash when I can get it, but a small amount of de-greasing dish soap works fine too.
5. Add your skull to the simmering soap water. If the water comes up on the bases of the antlers, remove it and wrap them with aluminum foil and then cover the foil with a plastic sack, securing it with duck tape.
6. Simmer your skull for 3-5 hrs. adding water and soap as necessary until it is completely free of all meat, brain, and sinew. Using a stiff bristle plastic brush expedites this process.
7. Spray your clean skull off with a hose, pressure washer, or take it to the car wash. If using the pressure washer or car wash, understand that you need to be careful. High pressure can and will damage the skull.
8. Once cleaned and rinsed, allow the skull to completely dry for at least a week. Stuffing it and wrapping it with paper towels helps, just make sure to change them out periodically.
9. Purchase high strength peroxide from any beauty salon, either in liquid or powder form. I prefer powder so I can make a paste.
10. Place liquid peroxide in a container large enough to hold the skull, once again, this is not something you want on the antlers. I make a fairly thick paste and apply it all over the skull using a popsicle stick. Either way, make sure the skull is covered with the peroxide.
11. Depending on how well you cleaned it, the skull will need to be in the peroxide approximately 2-5 days.
12. Once the skull is clean and white, remove from the peroxide and rinse with water.
13. Allow to completely dry for at least a week.
14. At this point you should have a nice, white skull, free of any debris or odor. You may still have some "blotchy" areas that had unusually high fat stores or that simply didn't have enough time in the peroxide. You can either go through the peroxide step again, or if you want a very white, even colored skull, you can give it a light coat of Kilz primer in the spray can.
This is a fairly old photo, but it gives a pretty good idea of the results.
Good luck and feel free to PM me with any other questions.
1. Skin out the head removing as much meat as possible. When I say "as much as possible" I mean every little scrap you can get off. This will make the boiling step MUCH easier.
2. Unwrap a wire coat hanger, or simply find about 8" of very stiff wire. Insert this into the base of the skull and "scramble" the brain until it's mush.
3. Pick the brain out with a pc. of wire that you have made a small hook on the end of. If you have access to an air compressor and a blow nozzle, this part goes much faster, BUT it is also MUCH messier. Get the skull cavity as clean as possible using either method.
4. Using a turkey/fish fryer and a pot that is ONLY to be used for this stuff, bring a pot of water to a simmer. I add soda ash when I can get it, but a small amount of de-greasing dish soap works fine too.
5. Add your skull to the simmering soap water. If the water comes up on the bases of the antlers, remove it and wrap them with aluminum foil and then cover the foil with a plastic sack, securing it with duck tape.
6. Simmer your skull for 3-5 hrs. adding water and soap as necessary until it is completely free of all meat, brain, and sinew. Using a stiff bristle plastic brush expedites this process.
7. Spray your clean skull off with a hose, pressure washer, or take it to the car wash. If using the pressure washer or car wash, understand that you need to be careful. High pressure can and will damage the skull.
8. Once cleaned and rinsed, allow the skull to completely dry for at least a week. Stuffing it and wrapping it with paper towels helps, just make sure to change them out periodically.
9. Purchase high strength peroxide from any beauty salon, either in liquid or powder form. I prefer powder so I can make a paste.
10. Place liquid peroxide in a container large enough to hold the skull, once again, this is not something you want on the antlers. I make a fairly thick paste and apply it all over the skull using a popsicle stick. Either way, make sure the skull is covered with the peroxide.
11. Depending on how well you cleaned it, the skull will need to be in the peroxide approximately 2-5 days.
12. Once the skull is clean and white, remove from the peroxide and rinse with water.
13. Allow to completely dry for at least a week.
14. At this point you should have a nice, white skull, free of any debris or odor. You may still have some "blotchy" areas that had unusually high fat stores or that simply didn't have enough time in the peroxide. You can either go through the peroxide step again, or if you want a very white, even colored skull, you can give it a light coat of Kilz primer in the spray can.
This is a fairly old photo, but it gives a pretty good idea of the results.
Good luck and feel free to PM me with any other questions.
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I buy dawn with bleach from the dollar general store, it gets all the fatty grease off of the skull as well as cleans up the other messes that boiling produces.
this is the first one I ever did using the same similar method that rdy2hnt used,
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Here's a couple of mine.I need to make some of those fancy plaques like that one ^^^. I have nine European mounts right now from bucks that I have killed since 06 and need something besides bungee cords to hang them with lol.
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I just skin mine and then boil them on the turkey frier outside. then pressure wash them to get the stuff inside out then continue boiling and using a screw driver to clean inside. Once all the "stuff is out and off I use an old spray butter bottle that has peroxide in it and spray it then then keep spraying it through the eveneing keeping it wet and in the morinign it is almost bleach white I spray it every now and then for a couple days and walla it is bleach white.
It is not as hard as a lot of people make it out to be.
It is not as hard as a lot of people make it out to be.
There are easy ways to do it and hard ways to do it. Take a half bottle of dawn soap and mix in while boiling it, boil it for around 4 hours or so. Then take it out an hit it with the pressure wassure. Wear old cloths, you will get messy, and do it on black top. I usually hold the rack with my foot while blowing the goop out. Takes 10 minutes or so and all the meat is gone, even the brain if you blow the water in. Then I take it out an use peroxide to brush the teeth real good then just soak it for a few minutes. They dont come out pure white but they are prety good for not much effort
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