Bleaching skulls

[bwhunter501]

I found a nice 8 point yesturday and i wanted to try and do a euro mount on it. he died when he was still in velvet but all the velvet was messed up and i tried taking all the velevt off but it didnt work so well and the color looks really akward. Im going to try and bleach the skull but i didnt know how to go about that without getting it on the antlers. Any suggestions?

[12GaugeGuy]

I wash my skulls with soap and water and let dry for a day in the sun, then I soak them in hydrogen peroxide (get the big bottles at walmart) for 24 hours. Take the skull out of the peroxide and rinse well with water and let sit in the sun for another 24 hours. It will turn bleach white. DO NOT USE BLEACH, it will mess it up. To keep it off the antlers in kinda tricky. I have heard you can wrap the antlers in plastic bags and duct tape it at the base near the skull.

[AaronA]

What I suggest for the antlers is boiling them for a short time so all the velvet comes off. The antlers will be different shades of brown to almost white in some places. Once you get all of the velvet off let them dry for a couple of days. You can go to an art/crafts store and pick up some oil paint in the small1 oz. tubes (Brown,Yellow and Black). Applya little dab of each coloron a piece of cardboard. I use a clean rag and start with brown first. Don't be affraid to mix the colorsto get the desired color. Apply the oil paint with rag and blend accordingly. If you notice that you have it a little to dark you can always clean the antlers off with paint or laquer thinner. Once you get the desired look, let the antlers dry for 24 hours.I suggest that you clean the skull when you boil the velvet off. You will have a very nice lookingmount. You can also usesome very light sand paper or steel wool to get the tips white. Hope this helps.

[Drew307]

Hey bwhunter501,

First off let me say that boiling the entire skull is last thing I would do. I have a skull cleaning business and have seen some beautiful trophies messed up through the boiling process (cracked teeth, skull plate loosening). I am assuming that the hide and all the meat is completely off. My suggestion for the velvet would be to just soak the antlers in ahalf water and half clear ammonia solution.The ammonia/water solution will help re-hydrate and degrease any blood or stains that might be left in the antler.Change the mixture when it gets cloudy. It shouldn't take longer than a week. Then I would flip the skull and soak itin some fresh solution to degrease it. Completely submerge the skull.Don't worry about the ammonia affecting the antler color, it won't. Change the wateracouple of times until itstarts to remain clear, that is when you can inspect the skull for anymore grease stains. If it looks clean, wash off with water and let it sit for 3 days to completely dry. Go to a beauty supply store and buy "Clairol Basic white". It is a heavy duty peroxide powder used forbleachingand highlighting hair. Mix the powder and store bought 3% hydrogen peroxide into a brushable paste. Coat the entire skull including the nasalcavity and justunder the antler pedicules. Then wrap the skull with saran wrap and set it out in the sun all day. After 24 hrs. you can wash off all the paste residue.Let the skull dry outside in the sun for another2 days and then you can sealit using Krylon clear gloss spray paint. krylon is the only spray paint that doesn't have a slight amber or yellow tint to it. As for the antlers, go to home depot and buy a bunch of different types of small cans of wood stain. Use a test piece of antler and find the color that best suits your region. The wood stains workgreat because you can feather in darker spots with a paint brush. Hope this helps,DREW

[AaronA]

The only problem with any laquer that you use..... it will yellow or discolor over time. We use a water-based satin sealer that you can buy at any Home Depot. That will never discolor due to it being water based. As far as whitening, Drew307 is dead on the money with that procedure. It works great. As far as the staining though, we have tried all of the other methods with very limited success. The oil paint method is a lot cheap and it is way easier to control the color with paint or laquer thinner. If you get an area too dark, just put a little thinner or a rag and lighten it up or remove it completely while it is still wet. There is also very little oder compaired to the other methods. But it just boils down to what is easiest for you!

[AR 34 eight point]

You can buy beetles, and you can boil. 100 bucks is way out of control for a euro mount.

[lovethebigguns]

Where can I buy the beetles?

[bowanna03]

i buried mine in the back yard for a couple of months covered it with a recy bin . took it out rinsed it off and cleaned the rest away and then used nydrogen peroxide mixed with baking soda like a paste mix and put it on for a while then rinsed off and tada

[rgswildlife]

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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

[TimberlandTaxidermy]

ORIGINAL: AR 34 eight point

You can buy beetles, and you can boil. 100 bucks is way out of control for a euro mount.

I don't know about "out of control". I charge $150.00 and get in WAY more than I want. Guess I don't have to worry about getting any from you. LOL