Bleaching skulls

[NV HUNTER]

Never heard of Aqua Slik.. whats it do? Is it doing the whitening in place of the peroxide?

It’s a whitener. Pool stores sell it

 

[Catchfish]

Looks like that says 27% hydrogen peroxide on it.

 

[Choot]

View attachment 987833View attachment 987834View attachment 987835

Sous vide set at 155 over night
Pressure wash
Sous vide set at 170 over night
Pressure wash
Aqua slik/water 50/50 -90 minutes
Pressure wash
Dry over night
Mop and glow

Sous vide is a good idea, never thought of that. Mite have to try it. How do you keep from bleaching the bases on the aqua silk/water soak? I feel like you’re either gonna have the top of the skull out of the water or your bases under just a touch. I know you can wrap them but I’d still be scared it would leak up in

 

[NV HUNTER]

Sous vide is a good idea, never thought of that. Mite have to try it. How do you keep from bleaching the bases on the aqua silk/water soak? I feel like you’re either gonna have the top of the skull out of the water or your bases under just a touch. I know you can wrap them but I’d still be scared it would leak up in

The bases do get a little bleached. And yes I wrap in plastic wrap. Don’t worry about it. Let it dry in front of a fan for a day and use a Qtip with wood stain. Hold the skull upside down so the stain doesn’t leak onto the white skull.

 

[trippcave]

View attachment 987833View attachment 987834View attachment 987835

Sous vide set at 155 over night
Pressure wash
Sous vide set at 170 over night
Pressure wash
Aqua slik/water 50/50 -90 minutes
Pressure wash
Dry over night
Mop and glow

Do you not have problems with the sous vide getting chunks of fat or meat stuck in it? Or is the skull wrapped in something to prevent that?

 

[NV HUNTER]

Do you not have problems with the sous vide getting chunks of fat or meat stuck in it? Or is the skull wrapped in something to prevent that?

No, I do a good job of getting all the big chunks. I think in the last 4 years it only clogged 1 time.

 

[TheGDog]

View attachment 987833View attachment 987834View attachment 987835

Sous vide set at 155 over night
Pressure wash
Sous vide set at 170 over night
Pressure wash
Aqua slik/water 50/50 -90 minutes
Pressure wash
Dry over night
Mop and glow

Dayum! That buck by the goat is Nice!

 

[Nick4050]

We've been using the simmer/peroxide method for our moose skulls the last few seasons and its been working really well. We cut slots in 55 gallon drums at the height where the nose bone is held an inch or so off the bottom, fill it up with water and dawn soap, tape the top off with a trash bag to keep steam in, and throw it on the turkey burner. Keep an eye on the temp so it doesn't boil, and let it sit for about an hour. Pull it out and hit it with the pressure washer (or a Hotsy if you have access to one, it works 100x better). If you do a half decent job of fleshing the skull beforehand you probably only have to do this once, but if you're like me and just throw it in there full of meat it'll probably take 2 or 3 soaks. Let it dry for a couple hours, then lather in 40 volume peroxide and let it side for 12 hours, then rinse and repeat until its as white as you like. With the moose we've noticed that if you do this process within like a week of killing it, you don't really need to do any degreasing other than the soap in the simmering water. If you let them sit for a couple weeks, you definitely see some yellowing unless you degrease.

I need to get a better picture of this year's bull up on the wall, you can't tell in this picture but it cleaned up really nicely and has zero yellowing or smell to it. I credit this to getting it cleaned up within like 4 days of shooting it.

 

[NV HUNTER]

Dayum! That buck by the goat is Nice!

That’s my deer from this past season. Just a touch over 180.

 

[CMF]

I've had success with regular ole 3% peroxide from walmart. I've let it soak as little as 24hr and as long as a week, usually just depends on when it's convenient for me to pull it out. That's after degreasing of course. The little shoe box platic totes from walmart work great for deer skulls.