Ok wasn't sure where to post this, i went off to some woods tonight to get a deer bone that i knew was lying about there, before i found the bone again i found a skull with small antlers on it still intact. Has been there for some time by the looks of it but i think it may clean up. My question is though, how would i clean the skull up? i have heard you use bleach but i'm not sure what damage or good i may be doing so if anyone can help that'd be great.
How to clean deer skull/antlers?
- Thread starter Clark
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Basically remove as much flesh as you can, then boil ensuring that the antlers do not enter the boiling water. Then flesh out again (including brain). Once all flesh removed soak cotton wool in hydrogen peroxide (wear gloves) and mould the soaked cotton wool around the skull - but not the antlers. Leave for 12 hrs and you should have a clean skull.
I actually cut the top half of the skull before commencing the above - see photo below
I actually cut the top half of the skull before commencing the above - see photo below
Aww that skull looks atleast a million if not 2 million times better than the rotten thing i found haha. There is no flesh or anything left on this skull, when i say it's been there for some time it's an understatement. Over a year atleast, theres no flesh left to clean off or anything to pick out. I was just wondering how to whiten it up a bit, i know this sounds sad but it's the first skull i've come across thats whole and can be made(hopefully) to look decent enough. That really is a nice looking piece of work there you have though.
Not sure what you mean 'clean up' if there is still flesh and stuff attached to the skull, put it in a pot of water (outside is best as it can stink) add some wood ash or sodium carbonate bring to the boil, then let simmer for half an hour or so, check the skill, rinse with water and if necessary repeat after scraping of any jelly that remains. If you want to whiten the skull, I don't know, I'd suggest a peroxide solution rather than bleach, but don't get any one the antlers
Yeah sorry people i wasn't very clear on that, what i meant was i wanted to whiten it as it's clean and clear of flesh but just dull. I'll give the whitening the bash tomorrow, i have some peroxide from when i use to bleach my hair(shame on me) so maybe that'll work. Thanks again for the quick replies. It would seem i am not the only one in on a friday night then. cheers again
I did mine with Hydrogen peroxide as mentioned above. Works well.
But be carefull not to get any on the antlers, it will whiten them very easily too.!
It's quite tricky to get up to the underside of the antler but not actually touch it.
If you do end up bleaching the antler it's not the end of the world, mix up some pot per solution and use a small paint brush to touch up the white bits. Once painted on it turns brown rather than purple
Then you can whiten the exposed areas again with a little sandpaper (if you look at an antler you'll find the 'valleys' have most of the colour and the exposed bits are quite whits becasue they keep on getting the staining rubbed off as the deer goes about his daily life)
It should come up looking pretty good.
cheers
mark
But be carefull not to get any on the antlers, it will whiten them very easily too.!
It's quite tricky to get up to the underside of the antler but not actually touch it.
If you do end up bleaching the antler it's not the end of the world, mix up some pot per solution and use a small paint brush to touch up the white bits. Once painted on it turns brown rather than purple
Then you can whiten the exposed areas again with a little sandpaper (if you look at an antler you'll find the 'valleys' have most of the colour and the exposed bits are quite whits becasue they keep on getting the staining rubbed off as the deer goes about his daily life)
It should come up looking pretty good.
cheers
mark
Well i took the cotton wool advice and it's come up alot brighter than it was, i think it's been in the elements too long though and will never be pearly white. The front of the skull towards the teeth etc was falling to bits so i've cut it further up like KAE1 has done. Did you make the the mount for it yourslef?
I'll get pics up a bit later if i can.
I'll get pics up a bit later if i can.
A tip we use at work a lot (I work in a museum) especially when youngsters come in asking how to clean up bones is to scrub it with baking powder. Thats a very safe way to remove a lot of grubbyness and it does help whiten it up if its not too bad already. For really stained bone the peroxide is the way to go but often the baking powder works really well and its not at all objectionable to use.
Sometimes just giving bone a good scrub in the sink with Fairy and a scourer works. Otherwise I've soaked it overnight in a solution of biological washing powder and it came out fine. Another way to whiten bone is to soak it in the solution of stuff used to clean their teeth by the folks who wear dentures.
cheers,
Toddy
cheers,
Toddy
