H2O.

Anything that breaks down tissue will break down bone, and you don't want that. Just boil the head in water, and it will cook the meat off the bone.

 

like he said , just boil it and get a wire brush to remove the meat.

 

Boil it, works great.

 

some truth, but...

boiling with water only will not remove the stuff inside the nose cavity, brian caseing, nerves, and blood and grease from the bones... you will likely have "yellowish" bones when done.

BOILING is really not a good idea. Par-Boiling or heating the water to just under the boiling is much better idea especially if a chemicle is involved.

There are a few Chemicles that you can add to help remove the tissues.

You can use laundry soap. it will work, but you better pay attention because it will destroy the bone if you go too far. (too far would be if all the tissues just seem to fall away without any work from you)

Sal Soda is much better, I am pretty sure it is Calcium Carbonate. Sodium Carbinate works as well. These work and they bleach the skull a litte as well.

My suggestion would be to buy a Eruo kit from Cabelas (the more expensive one). try it out and then you can buy the stuff in bulk that they put in the kits from Vandykes or some other place.

In my experience, a Euro Mount always turns out nicer, and is easier to do the sooner you start cooking it after it is killed or thawed out.

 

boiling with water only will not remove the stuff inside the nose cavity, brian caseing, nerves, and blood and grease from the bones... you will likely have "yellowish" bones when done.

BOILING is really not a good idea. Par-Boiling or heating the water to just under the boiling is much better idea especially if a chemicle is involved.

There are a few Chemicles that you can add to help remove the tissues.

You can use laundry soap. it will work, but you better pay attention because it will destroy the bone if you go too far. (too far would be if all the tissues just seem to fall away without any work from you)

Sal Soda is much better, I am pretty sure it is Calcium Carbonate. Sodium Carbinate works as well. These work and they bleach the skull a litte as well.

My suggestion would be to buy a Eruo kit from Cabelas (the more expensive one). try it out and then you can buy the stuff in bulk that they put in the kits from Vandykes or some other place.

In my experience, a Euro Mount always turns out nicer, and is easier to do the sooner you start cooking it after it is killed or thawed out.

You are correct on the boiling. I get the water to just below the boiling point. I don't usually mention that, because it's hard to get that much water in a turkey fryer to boil.

The soap is good for degreasing, and I use Borax, but it doesn't actually do anything to remove the meat. You have to let it boil for a good while, but all the meat inside will come out as well.

I also clean the skull afterwards with dish soap to further degrease it. From there, I coat it with some 40% peroxide to get it as white as you please.

 

For a home-brew method I've been told to bury it in a clean sand box up to the antler bases and the bugs will clean it to the bone without you loosing any structure from the chemicals or wire-brushing it. I took my bear skull to a museum and they put it in their bug collection for cheap.

As for finishing the skull, they told me that the best thing to whiten a skull to preserve it's original integrity is to just leave it in the sun for the summer and that will bake out all the grease and whiten it all the same, as any chemicals on the skull to whiten it are bad. They also said worse thing for a skull is bleach because it still "eats" the bone, even deteriorating the skull after you are done whitening because it stays in the bone pores. If you do want to whiten it with something, guys use the beauty supply house's solution of 40% hydrogen peroxide with good success.

 

thanks any more advice will be helpful

 

I also use sal soda method (get a tub of it at a pool store for cheap) and let it simmer, removing the skull to pick at it every 30 minutes to an hour. The burying method works great as well but it takes months to get complete and you can loose teeth in the hole. After I have let it boil and I have it all clean, I let it dry out over night then the next day I soak it in peroxide to really clean it out. I than let it sit in the sun for a day or two to bleach it and get it good and dry. Finally I put a semi-gloss coat of spray on it to give it a little shine and protect it. They look fantastic.

 

Bury it in the ground.
Solohunter

 

Lots of bad info on here. Don't boil it or bury it. Boiling can mess up the skull and burying can perminately stain it. For a at home method find a place as far away from anyone as you can and set the skull in a bucket of water. Heated to about 90* is preferable since it will speed the process up. It'll take a few weeks or so. You can check it and try to loosen up anything stuck inside with a pipecleaner to help the process. After that, put it into a degreasing tank. A fresh batch of water with LOTS of dawn dish soap. Heated to about 110* works well. After that you can whiten. If any dark spots show up than it needs more degreasing. A lot of people you salon grade (40%) peroxicide to whiten. Just be sure to wear gloves. Head of to taxidermy.net and do a search there. They've got a forum dedicated just to skulls and skelotons.

ETA: A few people here seem to know good ways of doing it. I never thought about taking one to a museam to let their beatles clean it. Beatles are probably the best way, but it isn't really practical to get your own unless you clean alot of skulls/

 

interesting

 

I should have added that you want the first bucket far away because its going to reek. The degreasing tank is about $25 to build and if you find a theromstat that goes low enough it can double as your other tank. All you need is a rubbermaid container, water heater element and a water heater thermostat. I can give you directions or you can look it up on the mentioned forums to see others setup.

 

James I have "boiled" quite a few skulls and all have turned out very good. I usually start by wrapping the bases and about 5" up with a double wrap of syran wrap. Then aluminum foil over that. I then set the skull in a pot and simmer it. I also add dish soap to cut the grease. Check the skull and wire brush every hour or so for a few hours til all meat is simmered off. Then allow the skull to dry at least a few hours. I then use a hair bleaching kit available at local beauty supply store. Mix up the peroxide mix and spread it over the entire skull. Let it sit overnight and simply wash it off the next day. Comes out very white and not brittle at all. Good luck. I wouldnt recommend the bury method. Just my .02!

 

I have boiled many skulls and they all turn out great, the only one that didn't was my first I craked a couple teeth because I got it to hot and let it sit at the bottom of the bucket. Also, I have done the burying trick and it turned out just fine as well, and did not stain. I lost a tooth in the soil and it took a while so that is why I didn't do that again. The water soak method (or maceration) supposedly is the best next to the beetles but your neighbors will be pissed and so will your g/f or wife. Than the police will be pissed when they come by your house to search for a dead body.

 

I'm gonna have to do something soon too, that head has been in my freezer for too long. I've been looking for washing soda locally with no luck.

 

www.taxidermy.com/cat/15/skull.html <-----go here to get some sal soda I have never actually used this stuff because I just pick up soda ash at any local pool supply store but this is the same.

 

Some folks do fine boiling, but it's not the best way. Neither is burying. Maceration is a very good way, but smelly, and it takes longer. De greasing takes a while but is worth the results. 120 degree water and clear dawn is all it takes. Change the water everyday in the begining, and less as the grease comes out. When the water dosen't get cloudy quick it is ready to whiten. People have mentioned 40% peroxide. It is really 40 volume, which is 12%. I use 27% . Either the 12% or the 27% can be mixed with a powder called "basic white"(from Sally's, its a salon product)to make a paste. Paint your skull with it and let it dry. Brush off the dust and rinse, and set in the sun for a day.

If you want an "instant" skull that looks OK, boil it. If you want a super looking skull, with all the fine nasal bones intact, it takes patience and time.

 

I've done both boiling and the bacteria type setup. Both will stink and need to be done outdoors. I just boiled it in an old dutch oven not used anymore, let it sit a while and then cleaned everything up with wire brushes. The bacteria method took longer but worked better I think. I took a 5 gallon bucket and a fish tank heater and set it up outside. I took a broken broom handle and set it up to hold the skull in place without letting the antlers touch water. The warm water promotes bacteria growth which eats the nasty stuff away over time. Finally I took both and covered them in a clear coat laquer. Good luck and dont worry about being perfect....it will come out good.

 

Has anyone tried staking them down on an ant pile(nest). I have heard this works but have never tried it.

 

Oh, I tried the bury method once also...and a dam dog came buy and thought it was his new chew toy! I never attempted that method again.

 

I did the bury method on my first one, since I couldn't afford beetles and didn't have a place to put up a maceration buckt. It was a small one so I just put a bucket over it and weighed it down

 

I don't understand what harm the boiling causes. I've done it many times, and I've never had any bones fall out, including the fragile stuff in the nose.

 

I've had it go both ways. I think it might depend on how long you boil it. The times I had no issues, I had more junk to clean out with brushes. :dontknow:

 

There is a company in Agency, Iowa called Flesheaters. It's like $35.00 and they have the beatles that eat the crap off your skull. I believe they have a website

 

+1. Beetles will do the trick.

 

I made my first attempt at this process a couple weeks ago. A friend killed a nice 8 point and I gave it a try on it. Boiling worked good along with the kit from Cabelas. It takes a little time but I'll do all my own in the future.

 

go to taxidermy.net , go to the tutorial section and there is a step by step by micheal p.

 

I buried my first euro mount this year. It took about three months to come out very clean. I put a large flower pot over the antlers and put bricks on top of that. I used the peroxide method from the beauty store. It had some yellowish staining but over all I was pleased with it. I may give some of these other methods a try next season.

 

The yellow staining was from either minerals that seeped into the skull or the lack of degreasing, or both.

 

Arm & Hammer Super Sudsing soap. Large yellow box at Walmart in the laundry soap section. Nothing but Sal Soda. Great for getting the meat off skulls in a simmering pot of water.