Good afternoon, I got a nice antelope yesterday and am boiling the skull to get the stuff off. I am not sure what to use to bleach the skull and make it look nice. I have used peroxide in the past but am told to use the high content stuff (not sure where to get that...I am not a beautician). I was also told to get hair bleach paste and mix it with some peroxide. I went to Wal Mart and asked the lady there but she had no idea, I told her I was not a candidate to bleach my hair and that it was for a skull...any ideas?

While you are boiling it, Get the horn caps off. There is some tissue between the horn and the core that will cause a stink if it is not removes.

The high percentage peroxide works the best and is the fastest but it is not crucial for good results. Any drugstore should be able to get you a gallon jug of peroxide in 10% strength. Whatever you do, DO NOT use bleach. It will eat the bone and cause it to flake apart. A gallon of peroxide should be plenty for an antelope. With the horn caps off, completely submerge the skull in the peroxide. (Use a plastic bucket, metal reacts with the peroxide) I use a rectangular mop bucket that fits the size of the skull closely in length and width. This gets the fluid deeper and allows the cores to be whitened as well. Soak the skull as long as necessary for it to become white. The peroxide will not damage it like bleach. When it has become white to your satisfaction, rinse it in hot water thoroughly and let it dry. Reattach the horns and it can be mounted on a plague.

This is one I had done for a friend a while ago.

Edit: Thanks for the photo help Travis.

nice job!

I just recently did a doe skull but i used highly concentrated chlorine

Canis, thanks, the caps are off...I could not find the peroxide anywhere, where did you get it? I was told you could only get it at a beauty supply place, is it 10% or 100%? That is an awesome mount you did, what did you mean in the last part of your statement? How do you get it turned right? Anyhow, thanks for the tip on the bleach, I knew that but I want full disclosure so I don't screw anything up!

LS:

I have used the standard strength peroxide that you buy in 16 oz bottles and it worked just fine. Like they said, if you can submerge it, it works well, if not, lay it in a glass oven pan and wrap some old white towels around the skull and keep those wet with peroxide. It will be bleached in a couple days. Helps if you place it in the sun after taking it out of the peroxide.

Kevin

Thanks guys. I just need to get all the gunk off it, I want to fast track it so I can get the horns back on the skull too

LS, you should be able to get peroxide at any drug store. The 10% stuff will work great. I actually use 35% which I get from a chemical supply company. Kevin's tip about laying it in the sun to whiten is a good one. If you use the towel method he mentioned, I would add to wrap the towels with saran wrap to keep them from drying out. I prefer to use white cloth so more light can penetrate to the bone. Old white sport socks work well. They soak up the peroxide well and they aren't too big to work with.
How are you planning to get the horns reattached? Bondo?



When I posted the picture it was turned sideways, I see Travis got it straightened out for me. Thank you.

Thanks for the replies. I have used regular peroxide before with marginal luck. The stronger stuff seems a lot harder to find. However, I did find this at Cabela's which may save a lot of fuss and bother Cabelas. I guess Jim Zumbo had an article and mentioned some kind of bleach gel...

glad i could help Canis maybe i shoulda edited and said photo fixed?

One more question, I am still boiling the meat off, I know the meat won't magically disappear but I am afraid to screw up the skull scraping. What is the best method?

Add a cup full of Arm and Hammer washing soda to the water. You can find it in the detergent section of the grocery store. This stuff really makes the job of getting all the bits of meat off much easier. The skull comes out a greyish-white after this process too so it takes less time in the peroxide.
After you are done boiling and the majority of the meat is gone, scrape with a knife. The only parts that generally will still have anything clinging to it will be at the back of the skull and around the edges of the eye sockets. Long tweezers or a dental pick of some kind will be handy to get some scraps hung up in the nasal cavity.

thanks guys, I added some 20 mule team and after boiling was able to get a lot of stuff off. Now I have a bunch of the 20 mule team on it soaking up the moisture to pull more off. Its taking shape!

European skull mounts

In my shop I use 35% peroxide. First take off most of the meat and brains, cover the skull not the horns with the peroxide, use rags around the base of the horns so the peroxide can leech up to the underside of the burr. After a week or two (depends on how well you cleaned it) rinse it in dawn dish detergent and water till it comes out clean, place it in the sun to dry. If it is the way you want it, then cover it with modge-podge high gloss and it will be sealed and stay clean forever. If you used bleach the modge-podge will seal the skull and stop the flaking that can go on forever. You can put the skull back into the peroxide as many times as you like, but if you notice the skull is falling apart take it out, you have left it in too long. You will have to glue the teeth into the skull. Never use bleach because it will continue to breakdown the bone forever. We do not boil the skull as most of the time it will fall apart if kept in too long.

Rich

What I do in my taxidermy shop is. Blow brain out with a brainblaster I made. Pull eyes out. Get all meat off as possible. Put is a bucket with 1/3 cup sal soda (washing soda), with a charcoal heating element bent 90 degrees so it will stand up. Put a sheet of wood in the bottom of your bucket. Put skull in with heating element. Will keep to a very warm temp to touch but its just basically a very slow simmer. Will take 48 hours. At 24 hours change water and more sal soda with some Dawn dish soap to degrease in heated water. I scrape the meat off with the back side of a knife. After all meat is gone put skull in Dawn soap with water. I soak about 2 hours and agitate everytime I think of it. I go to Sally Beauty supply. Buy 40 volume peroxide and quick white powder. Mix it to a paste like whipped cream. Put on the skull everywhere but the antlers. Place in sun if Possible. Let dry 24 hours and brush dried powder off with a stiff brush (not wire brush). Wala, nice white skull. Never use bleach, and boiling will make the bone brittle.

Here is a Brown Bear, Polar Bear and a Grizzly Bear skull done.