Yeah for the most part I just used regular hot water. I did pour dish soap all over a couple times but I cant really say how much that helps because thats the only way Ive ever done it. Ive never tried it without the soap.

But yeah all I did was let it soak, and then slowly started prying the hide up off of the skull from the front, then turned it around and pried it up from the back. Once I thought it was loose from front to back I took my knife and cut the whole middle part out. Once that was out I just started out cutting down as close as I could to the base. Once I got all of the main pieces I just started going back and getting all the little parts. Then like I said I let it dry and used sand paper all over it.