Cleaning a found skull

[Jon Stewart]

Anyone know how to clean a skull found in the woods.  One that has been laying around for  few years and needs to be brightened up.. I want to clean up a deer skull but don't want to loose any of the teeth  or have the skull come apart.

[LoneWolf73]

Soak in peroxide and scrub a bit with toothbrush set out in the sun up out of the way of animals. If a tooth comes out just glue back in.

[JEFF B]

soak it in bleach work wonders on bone thats what i do to get it ready for carving.      

[Sarah]

Soak or boil it in hydrogen peroxide to brighten it up. If there are some bits of flesh left on it you can boil it in plain water first and then scrub off the bits with a brush. The longer you leave it to boil in the peroxide, the more white it will become.

Be careful boiling the teeth as they can crack. I just soak teeth in peroxide and then glue them back in once the skull has been boiled/whitened.

I used this procedure with this coyote skull
 

[FerretWYO]

The way that I have found works the best is this. If it has been sitting out for a long time and there is lots of flesh still attatched soak it first is just water(you can add a little salt to help it). Then boil it clean. Use some borax to help break down the naturals. Let it dry well.

To beach it go to your local beauty salon or beauty supply and get some 40 volume devloper. It is a 40% hydrogen peroxide creme. The medical kind is 3%. I just got a gallon for less than 10 dollers. You would be good with a half gallon or less for just one skull. Use a brush and paint it on thick. After about 12 hours wash it clean with water. If it is not yet white enough do it one more time. If it is a sunny day and you can set it out with the creme on it that will help as well.

[pete p]

taxidermy.net check it out

[cam188]

If it is clean of meat. Go to your local beauty supply shop and get some 40% (be careful and wear gloves or it will burn your skin) or higher peroxide. You can also get it from places like vandykes.
Get some baby powder and mix with the peroxide until it is pastey and then just paste it on place it in the sun and let it dry.

Once done I rinse it with peroxide and then fresh water and dry.

If the skull still has alot of grease before all of this I soak it in water and a solution of Dawn changing it out a couple times and usually sucks all the grease out.

Don't use bleach it normally makes the bone somewhat flakey.

[Earl E. Nov...mber]

Send Momma to Wall Mart and stick it in the dish washer.. Hot and high pressure soap and water will clean most anything.. Trust me...

[Jon Stewart]

Thanks for your  responses.  Earl E. I couldn't afford the attorney that I would need to get me out of this mess if I put a skull in our dishwasher!!

[carparcher]

Here at our office (Medical Examiner), we simply use a 50/50 bleach/water solution on all the skulls and bones brought to us.  If the bones are especially brittle then we lighten the concentration.  Check it daily and rinse it really well when removing it from the water.  If you leave it in the bucket, any teeth that fall out can easily be put back in place.

[d. ward]

Jon one of the best ways I found to get them clean is a very slow low heat barely boiling.But the trick my taxi-der-est told me was to use dish washer soap for your dishwasher ? Just add about half a cup to the water with the skull.Let it boil for about 1-2 hrs.Then you can use the garden hose with a nozzle and kind of pressure wash off almost all the excess tissue with just water.You may still have to pick a few thing out by hand like the brains.But Joe told me not to use the bleach as it will cause the bones to break down and rut away it makes them kind of flakie.So the 40% peroxide is better then bleach.They will come out really nice and white.But what ever you do,do not I repete do not take Earlies advice and put it in the dishwasher...trust me on this one dude.I boiled two bear skulls on the stove top because I was out of propane for my outdoor cooker...Holly balls when Mrs Bowdoc got home from work she was so pee'd off.Words could never explain what our kitchen smelled like for about 3-5 days.The smell just stuck to the walls because of all the steam....Man my old lady was so mad she could almost spit....bowdoc

[Ben Woodring]

The easiest, most practical way is to bury it in a manure pile for awhile, it even works in the winter....that will get you 95% done, then soak in house hold bleach for a couple hours and you're done.

[Jon Stewart]

This skull is meat and debri free.  I just want to brighten up a bit.  It's been laying out there for a couple of years I would say.  Got ya Bow Doc.  Like I said, attorney fees would kill me if the wife didn't first. lol

[OkKeith]

Jon,

Like most of these guys have recomended, I use peroxide from the beauty salon. They also sell a develper solution to mix with the peroxide that can make the process go faster. Also as mentioned, don't get it on your skin or you will get a chemical burn.

I degrease by slowly boiling the skull with a about half a handfull of Electrasol automatic dishwashing powder (as mentioned above). If you keep it at a medium rolling boil, put a couple of handfulls of sand in the pot. It not only helps scrub off the skull, but scrubs the pot as well, making clean up easier.

Also as mentioned before, I use my fish fryer burner and a big pot that is used to fry turkeys in to boil my skulls. Since I do several dozen skulls a year (of various types) I have dedicated the pot to this purpose.

Hope this helps. These guys have given some good advice.

OkKeith