Boiling skulls?

[Ridley]

Update. I had to boil it a bit longer than I had hoped to get rid of the residual “stuff”. I put it in peroxide for 4 days and everything is really clean. As mentioned above, the jaw did separate and most of the teeth fell out but I have collected them. I’m gonna have to leave the skull for a few days as my wife, daughter and I have a hotel room on the Oregon coast for thanksgiving. I will put it back together after the holiday weekend. Here is a pic of everything so far. Thanks to all for your advice and I wish you all a safe and happy thanksgiving.

 

[Bdjones]

Doint boil, simmer. Shouldn't take long. Add some dawn dishsoap or oxiclean and simmer for 30 mins- 1 hour then check.

100 percent good info.

I've done 4 now this way.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

 

[30338]

Small skulls are cool. Here is a porky I did last winter.

Your bobcat looks great from what I can see so far.

 

[Redwood]

white bone creations on youtube has great DIY tutorials. I followed his directions on my Antelope and it came out great!

^^^^^this I found his videos a few years ago. Just follow his instructions and your skulls will turn out awesome they are really simple also

 

[MeatBuck]

Update. I had to boil it a bit longer than I had hoped to get rid of the residual “stuff”. I put it in peroxide for 4 days and everything is really clean. As mentioned above, the jaw did separate and most of the teeth fell out but I have collected them. I’m gonna have to leave the skull for a few days as my wife, daughter and I have a hotel room on the Oregon coast for thanksgiving. I will put it back together after the holiday weekend. Here is a pic of everything so far. Thanks to all for your advice and I wish you all a safe and happy thanksgiving.
View attachment 235397

Teeth falling out is usually a sign of over boiling.
Wild hogs you need overboil to get the tusks out so the roots can be boiled and pressure washed out. Plus then you can glue them in to make them appear as long as possible.
With deer and small game you should watch it carefully as it simmers or boils so you don’t lose teeth or crack(separate) skull or jawbone.
Best way to tell is when the meat on the forehead starts to split. At that point take the pressure washer to it. If it doesn’t get everything off then dunk it back in for a bit and repeat.
Here’s a video and if it hasn’t been said already, whitebone creations is full of good euro knowledge.

 

[N.ID7803]

Check out Youtube and search White Bone Creations. Guy is really good and shows lots of tips and tricks

 

[mstahlz]

Overboiling will soften parts of the bone to the point a pressure washer can tear it apart, so boiling in phases as several people have said (boil/scrape&wash/boil/scrape&wash) is the way to go. I've blown the front of the nose off of two antelope and a deer letting them go in the boil pot too long.

 

[Catchfish]

Any chance to put the bobcat back together yet. I just did to blacktails but they are still whitening.

 

[lyle_destroys]

This is the best way to do it whether a fresh kill or old:
Skin and scrape the skull, simmer for an hour with dawn or laundry detergent, this will pull the fat and oil out of the skull that will later cause discoloration, I pressure wash the rest of the flesh off and brains out but with more delicate skulls like deer and small animals it can damage them if you get too close. Be careful. Let it dry.
Next get 40 volume peroxide and whitening powder and mix into a paste, cover the skull then wrap in plastic for 24 hours. Wash off

 

[bsnedeker]

This is the best way to do it whether a fresh kill or old:
Skin and scrape the skull, simmer for an hour with dawn or laundry detergent, this will pull the fat and oil out of the skull that will later cause discoloration, I pressure wash the rest of the flesh off and brains out but with more delicate skulls like deer and small animals it can damage them if you get too close. Be careful. Let it dry.
Next get 40 volume peroxide and whitening powder and mix into a paste, cover the skull then wrap in plastic for 24 hours. Wash off

I just finished up this year's buck with this exact method. First time ever doing it this way, very happy with how it turned out.

 

[30338]

That looks really fine. Nicely done.

 

[aron]

What pressure are you guys using to clean the skulls with? I brought two skulls through the car wash and that didn't seem like it was near enough pressure to get the skulls clean. These skulls were simmered for a decent amount of time before head through the car wash too.

 

[jdubrr]

I'm using a pressure washer from Harbor freight so non adjustable

 

[Lytro]

I use an electric pressure washer I bought off Amazon instead of my gas pressure washer. The lower pressure takes longer but it doesn’t cause any damage and it works great. I simmer in water with dish soap for 2 hours (time starting when I light the burner) before removing and pressure washing. That will get most of it, and I return it to the pot for about another hour and remove the rest. I use a long needle nose pliers and a long forceps to pull any remaining nasal tissue and the brain membrane. I let them dry overnight and apply straight 40v cream developer with a silicone brush. I like to set them out in the sun if I can and I leave the 40v on for 2 days. After that I pressure wash them clean and let them dry. Doing it this way I haven’t had any teeth loosen, or any bones separate.

The pic of the solo skull was after cleaning without any whitener applied yet.

 

[bsnedeker]

What pressure are you guys using to clean the skulls with? I brought two skulls through the car wash and that didn't seem like it was near enough pressure to get the skulls clean. These skulls were simmered for a decent amount of time before head through the car wash too.

This is the one I have...cheap but works for little stuff like this. I also have one of the big gas-powered jobs but that seemed like overkill and I was worried it would destroy stuff:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01CA4PRBA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Erict]

I have done a number of coyote and smaller skulls and found that:
- Boiling or excessive heat will cause teeth, especially the long canines, to crack longitudinally.
- Boiling/excessive heat and pressure washing is more likely to destroy the delicate inner spiral nasal bones, which may or may not be important to you.
- Many options for cleaning including beetles, maceration, simmering. I simmer at 180 after removing as much tissue as possible. A cheap set of harbor freight dental picks works great for pulling bits and pieces out of places like the gumline. Unless I go too long, the teeth do not fall out and they do not crack. Use a good squirt of dawn dishwashing liquid AND a cup or so of Borax (sal soda) to your simmering juice. The borax will cause some of the remaining tissue to "gel" up and it will be easier to remove.
- If you see any yellow on the skull you probably still have grease in it - take the time to use another soak with dawn to get it all out.
- I use Bacaquil oxidizer (pool chemical - 27% hydrogen peroxide) to whiten smaller skulls like coyotes and smaller. Just bought a gallon for $17 and you can reuse it (strain through a coffee filter to get the bits out). After simmer, I rinse in water and dry, then into the straight oxidider for about a 24 hour soak. Skull should come out 100% white.
- Seal the finished dry skull with something like Krylon clear coat to make it easier to keep it dust free.

Good luck!

This is the first skull I did, a coyotes, that was boiled. The teeth fell out and no nasal bones:

https://imgur.com/FPnSmW5

https://imgur.com/q8sCPBP

https://imgur.com/Q344oAO

 

[hami0528]

I got a little lazy after soaking and cleaning a deer skull out, and have not simmered it in dish soap. It has hung in my garage for over a month now. Is it too late to simmer those oils out of the bone at this point?

 

[30338]

Nope, simmer away.

 

[hami0528]

Nope, simmer away.

Thanks 30338!