Didn’t fill my deer tag but filled the freezer. Skull cleaning recommendations

[RyanSoNorCal]

Big shout out to Lost Valley Outfitters in Atascadero for helping me fill my freezer! Top notch outfitter highly recommended.

I made a mistake and didn’t de-grease my skull long enough. About 10 days soak in dawn after boiling and cleaning. I put on Salon Care 40 after the Dawn soak cleaned off and dried but there is still yellow spots and mild smell. Any suggestions?

 

[okie archer]

You should have boiled the dawn water not just soak it in dawn water. It might not be to late to do that.

 

[RyanSoNorCal]

You should have boiled the dawn water not just soak it in dawn water. It might not be to late to do that.

Yeah I did that. My bad wasn’t clear in my initial post.

 

[Corn king 60]

Yeah I did that. My bad wasn’t clear in my initial post.

Just do it again. Also I used to use the salon 40 . But have gone to peroxide. One part peroxide to three parts water.bring to slow boil / simmer for 20-30 minutes. be careful to keep of antlers

 

[2rocky]

Just do it again. Also I used to use the salon 40 . But have gone to peroxide. One part peroxide to three parts water.bring to slow boil / simmer for 20-30 minutes. be careful to keep of antlers

Salon 40 is 40% Peroxide, So Whatchu Sayin?

 

[MarvB]

Salon 40 is 40% Peroxide, So Whatchu Sayin?

I always thought salon 40 was 12% peroxide by volume? I’m likely wrong (and I’m also out of it lol) just what jumps to mind

 

[TOGIE]

40 volume peroxide is 12% peroxide by volume

 

[MarvB]

Asked my buddy whose sitting here watching the Ducks v. Beavs with me and he went all @wllm1313 on me

“Volume is the amount of oxygen that is contained in a given amount of peroxide. 12% hydrogen peroxide is V40 or 40 volume, because it will release 40 times it’s volume in oxygen. One pint of 12% hydrogen peroxide will release 40 pints of oxygen as it breaks down.”

Then he went on to prove it….Calculations would be:

40 mL oxygen gas per mL H2O2 solution. Take it to Liters> 40 L,
mols? =(approx) = 40 L / 22.4L/mol (Molar volume) = 1.79 mol

2 H2O2 --> 1 O2 + 2 H2O;
it came from 1 L H2O2,

Initial Concentration of H2O2 = 3.6 Molar. Now use molecular mass of H2O2 (MM= 34 g/mol)
C(g/L)=3.6 M * 34 g/mol=122.4 g / L

C (g / 100 mL ) = C (%) = 12.2 %

The math works! I need a beer and sorry OP to derail, just whiten the shit out of it in other words!

 

[TOGIE]

Love it @MarvB haha

To OP: soak it in acetone, unheated

wllm will eventually chime in with details on that process

 

[RyanSoNorCal]

Love it @MarvB haha

To OP: soak it in acetone, unheated

wllm will eventually chime in with details on that process

Sooo. Soak in straight Acetone and no more Salon 40? That should get out the grease and whiten? Thanks everyone for the invite info!

 

[TOGIE]

Sooo. Soak in straight Acetone and no more Salon 40? That should get out the grease and whiten? Thanks everyone for the invite info!

Yeah. Sealed large jar, straight acetone, no heat, multiple days. Should do good work on the grease. If you need another round of peroxide after you can.

You can go weeks in acetone as I understand it. Shouldn’t harm the bones. I think whitebone creations has a few YouTube videos where he talks about what he’s done with acetone. Quick google search should find it.

 

[Corn king 60]

Salon 40 is 40% Peroxide, So Whatchu Sayin?

this is what I use. 3 to 1

 

[brownbear932008]

Asked my buddy whose sitting here watching the Ducks v. Beavs with me and he went all @wllm1313 on me

“Volume is the amount of oxygen that is contained in a given amount of peroxide. 12% hydrogen peroxide is V40 or 40 volume, because it will release 40 times it’s volume in oxygen. One pint of 12% hydrogen peroxide will release 40 pints of oxygen as it breaks down.”

Then he went on to prove it….Calculations would be:

40 mL oxygen gas per mL H2O2 solution. Take it to Liters> 40 L,
mols? =(approx) = 40 L / 22.4L/mol (Molar volume) = 1.79 mol

2 H2O2 --> 1 O2 + 2 H2O;
it came from 1 L H2O2,

Initial Concentration of H2O2 = 3.6 Molar. Now use molecular mass of H2O2 (MM= 34 g/mol)
C(g/L)=3.6 M * 34 g/mol=122.4 g / L

C (g / 100 mL ) = C (%) = 12.2 %

The math works! I need a beer and sorry OP to derail, just whiten the shit out of it in other words!

Lost me after "calculations would be"..... Lmao

 

[Howie]

I simply boil skulls in water until everything cleans off relatively easily.. then hit it good with the pressure washer..
They end up beautiful with the natural creamy bone color. Personally I don't care for the pure white bleached appearance

 

[Caseknife]

Simmer in water and baking soda, remove and clean as much as you can get off easily, dump water. Repeat a few times along with Dawn and then finish with hydrogen peroxide, but keep the antlers out. Take it to the car wash and spray the crap out of it, wear your muck boots. Side note, remove as much of the brain as possible with a coat hanger prior to simmering it. That will limit the fat content in the water bath, the brain is about 98%fat, or something like that. Give the brain material to your neighbor who does brain tanning, he will appreciate it very much. "Each animal has enough brain matter to tan its own hide"

 

[Hunting Wife]

I think you get as many opinions as there are people on these things, but this is the first time I’ve seen calculations. @MarvB is next level

I am the impatient sort I guess. I want skulls to be done today when I’m working on them and not have to sit for days or weeks. I use Borax and Dawn in the simmer water and that works very well to cut the grease initially. Removing as much tissue as possible also helps keep your water less greasy. I might change the water part way through if it’s really nasty.

I also add Quick Blue to the Salon 40 and that lightens up those dark yellow spots. That mixture foams up and expands as it sits and fills all the nooks and crannies to get everything bleached evenly. I leave it on for 10-12 hours and go from there. If you were going to re-bleach I would check it after a few hours to not overdo it.

 

[EYJONAS!]

TSP, Ammonia, Acetone will all work. My BIL has some trick with soaking bear and pigs in gasoline to degrease.

I don't know what his Walter White concoction is but he's done it to a couple of my bear skulls. It doesn't smell one bit and works great.

 

[RyanSoNorCal]

I think you get as many opinions as there are people on these things, but this is the first time I’ve seen calculations. @MarvB is next level

I am the impatient sort I guess. I want skulls to be done today when I’m working on them and not have to sit for days or weeks. I use Borax and Dawn in the simmer water and that works very well to cut the grease initially. Removing as much tissue as possible also helps keep your water less greasy. I might change the water part way through if it’s really nasty.

I also add Quick Blue to the Salon 40 and that lightens up those dark yellow spots. That mixture foams up and expands as it sits and fills all the nooks and crannies to get everything bleached evenly. I leave it on for 10-12 hours and go from there. If you were going to re-bleach I would check it after a few hours to not overdo it.

Much appreciated. It looks like your method was the closest to what I did. I’ll try adding the Quick blue next time. The smell has gone away but I might try to rebleach again.

 

[sneakypete]

Nice hog, I’m surprised at the short length of the tusks!

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I find that you need to heat the water when using dawn to really get it to work. 115-120 degrees. Essentially you are trying to hit the melting point of the fat. More of a method for deer/elk

Here is my price of whales bear… bears eating salmon so super greasy.

Bear Euro...pain in the

After having done 30+ euros and 2 bears I thought I had a pretty good method down but this skull kicked my butt. It's been a 5 month process, so I'm sure I will level out some details, but essentially my POW bear skull was just heinously greasy. Cleaned the skull using my sous vide, you can...

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