Bleaching bones?

[Beer Monster]

I’ve come across a really good skull (seal skull washed up on shore) that I’d like to keep. It’s in pretty good shape (no flesh etc) but is quit discoloured so was wondering if any of you guys know how to bleach it?

How do you go about it i.e. do you use domestic bleach, what ratio to water do you use, how long do you leave it in for? etc

Thanks in advance.

 

[ESpy]

If I'm bleaching bone, I tend to boil it in a fairly dilute bleach solution. Might be worth boiling it in a detergent solution first, just to remove any fats or the like... Boil it too long (i.e > 30 mins on shin bone IME), and it will get very brittle; be careful when you dry it too as if you dry it too quickly, it'll crack.

 

[Buckshot]

I've just done a Roe deer to mount on the wall in the front porch !!!

After boiling it to remove the flesh I left it a year (this is not compulsory) then washed the crud off and sat it in 30 - 40% Tesco thin bleach for a couple of days.
Rinse off well, it came out yellow but as it dried turned white.

It's came out really well.

Also, doesn't apply to you I know but, if you paint any bleached areas of antler with potassium permangnate it turns brown as it dries ! Just put how ever many coats are needed to blend in with the existing colour on the antler.

Cheers

Mark

 

[arctic hobo]

Soon Mark you'll be like this guy: http://img75.echo.cx/img75/4529/dsc002994yj.jpg

 

[den]

I collected skulls when I was a young one.
After the majority of flesh etc have rotted away I soaked the skulls in a bucket of cold water for about two weeks to remove the last bits of remaining junk. After this wash the skull, remembering to collect any teeth from the bottom of the bucket. To bleach I would only use a very weak solution of bleach as any stronger it will ruin the bone turning it brittle, yellow and powdery . I also found boiling had quite the same effect on the smaller more fragile skulls. It’s a long time ago now. But im sure I never bleached for more than 24hrs. so if you take any thing away from this use a very weak solution and bleach for longer rather than a short bleach with a strong solution. Oh and glue the teeth back in that came out during the process and job done. Not the nicest job in the world to do but the results a super.

 

[Beer Monster]

Many thanks chaps . I'll try and get some pics up with the finished results!