kansaswiderack

i have my elk from last year that has been cleaned and i would like to bleach it. any tips as what to do and what to be carefull of?

Stickin Em

Do NOT use bleach. Use peroxide. 3% peroxide you get from the drug store will work, but will take a while. For what you have, go to the beauty supply shop and get 40 volume peroxide (they use it for hair bleaching). This is actually 12% peroxide. Put the skull in the smallest plastic storage box you can fit it in, pour in the peroxide, up to the bottom of the burrs. Then put paper towels over the exposed top of the skull. The paper towels will wick the peroxide up to the top of the skull. I use a turkey baster and whenever I walk by mine, I'll squirt some up on top. Leave it in the peroxide for maybe two days, then take it out and let it dry in the sun. You can also dry it by heat. Either of these ways will accelerate the whitening process.
I'm not sure how your skull was cleaned, but keep in mind if it wasn't properly degreased, you're almost wasting your time. Degreasing is by far the most important part of the process. Whitening is the easy part. Good luck.

fastetti

For the ones that I have done I have picked up a few bottles of the 30% stuff for a hair supplies store and mix it with some borax powder to make a paste. Then take a paint brush and brush down every part of the skull I can very liberally. Then I take what left of the paste and but it on some rags and wrap the skull in it and cover with Seran wrap and put it in the sun for a day. The sun will cause a little heat therefor making the hy peroxide work better. This is why you see ladies with there heads in heating lamps at salons, heat really activates it but do NOT put it near any other heat source, it is highly flammable, just in the sun will do. Give it about a day and peal off the rags and you'll have a perfectly white skull and never have to worry about the yellowing bleach may cause or bone deterioration.

Here is a picture of one, its not the best pic but it shows that it turns out VERY white. Good Luck!

kansaswiderack

thanks for the input. i am thinking i will go with the paste. it sounds like with doing an elk skull it would take alot of material to fill a bucket that would hold a skull that size.

Stickin Em

Beauty Salons do not sell 30% peroxide. They carry 30 Volume and 40 Volume. The 40 Volume is the strongest and it is only 12% peroxide.
Also, peroxide is not flammable. It is a strong oxidizer. Do not get it on your skin or eyes. It's corrosive to the skin. If you're going to handle peroxide stronger than what you get in the drug store, you should get a MSDS and familiarize yourself with the potential hazards.
If you want to go the "paste" route. About the cheapest route is to use baby powder. Works fine. If you want something a little more effective, while you're at the beauty salon, get a small tub of "Basic White." It's made by Clairol. It enhances the whitening process.

fastetti

Sorry, my beauty salon terminology isn't up to par.