Warm water maceration & bleaching/whitening

[180splitg3]

Hey guys. My son shot a small buck this year (his first deer) and I have been wanting to try maceration to clean the skull. I purchased the aquarium heater, skinned the head, removed the brains and eyes and have had it in the bucket for a week. Took it out today and it is getting close to done (one of the worst smelling things ever!). I sprayed it off with a hose, changed the water and put it back in with a little bit of dish soap for degreasing. I have never done a euro mount before so am just going off of online videos.

I have a couple of questions:

1. How long will this skull stink for (it's bad)? Anything I can do to help the smell go away?
2. I would like to whiten it. Looks like some people use bleach and some people use that Salon 40 peroxide. Just wondering if these are my two best options and would like any tips anyone has for making this look like a professional job. All the nasal bones and everything are still in tact and look really nice as of right now. I am also wondering about the bones around the ear - do I just break those out from the skull? I have several euro mounts at home that I can look at as an example - they don't have those ear bones in them.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Antares]

I would say you’re nowhere near done. Macerating takes time. You switched to degreasing too soon. Maceration is complete when the water stays clear, all tissue is gone, and it doesn’t stink bad anymore. Then switch to degreasing and degrease for longer than you think you need to. Don’t use bleach. Do use peroxide. After proper maceration, degreasing, whitening, drying, and sealing, there should be no smell.

I macerate for a month or longer. Changing water twice a week. Aquarium heater set at 100F. Change water frequently, you want aerobic not anaerobic bacteria. Wear gloves.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Yeah it's gonna be a while. My buddy did an Aoudad for me and I think it rotted for something like 6 weeks. If you want fast you gotta boil (simmer) it.

 

[180splitg3]

I would say you’re nowhere near done. Macerating takes time. You switched to degreasing too soon. Maceration is complete when the water stays clear, all tissue is gone, and it doesn’t stink bad anymore. Then switch to degreasing and degrease for longer than you think you need to. Don’t use bleach. Do use peroxide. After proper maceration, degreasing, whitening, drying, and sealing, there should be no smell.

I macerate for a month or longer. Changing water twice a week. Aquarium heater set at 100F. Change water frequently, you want aerobic not anaerobic bacteria. Wear gloves.

Thanks - there is virtually nothing left on the skull. Just one spot the size of a quarter on the back of the head - that's it. How long would you recommend degreasing? A week?

 

[Antares]

Depends how picky you are. If you want a museum/conservation grade specimen, degrease a long, long time. I don’t like grease spots showing up. You can immediately tell a skull someone didn’t take enough time with; looks like a paper bag full of fried chicken.

Depends on species, age, size, temp of your degreasing water, etc. For a young deer, I’d go a month with frequent changes of soapy water at 100F, less time if you can get to 120-130F.

 

[180splitg3]

Depends how picky you are. If you want a museum/conservation grade specimen, degrease a long, long time. I don’t like grease spots showing up. You can immediately tell a skull someone didn’t take enough time with; looks like a paper bag full of fried chicken.

Depends on species, age, size, temp of your degreasing water, etc. For a young deer, I’d go a month with frequent changes of soapy water at 100F, less time if you can get to 120-130F.

What do you put in the water when you are going through the degreasing process?

 

[bvan5768]

Hey guys. My son shot a small buck this year (his first deer) and I have been wanting to try maceration to clean the skull. I purchased the aquarium heater, skinned the head, removed the brains and eyes and have had it in the bucket for a week. Took it out today and it is getting close to done (one of the worst smelling things ever!). I sprayed it off with a hose, changed the water and put it back in with a little bit of dish soap for degreasing. I have never done a euro mount before so am just going off of online videos.

I have a couple of questions:

1. How long will this skull stink for (it's bad)? Anything I can do to help the smell go away?
2. I would like to whiten it. Looks like some people use bleach and some people use that Salon 40 peroxide. Just wondering if these are my two best options and would like any tips anyone has for making this look like a professional job. All the nasal bones and everything are still in tact and look really nice as of right now. I am also wondering about the bones around the ear - do I just break those out from the skull? I have several euro mounts at home that I can look at as an example - they don't have those ear bones in them.

Thanks for the help!

Have never done the maceration, but for whitening I use 40 wt developer (cream) mixed with simple white powder. Both can be found at beauty supply store. Good luck!

 

[Antares]

What do you put in the water when you are going through the degreasing process?

Dish soap. Lots.

 

[realunlucky]

Using an aquarium heater and removing anything really cut off 10 days or so usually does it.
As for smell I leave it in the shed airing out for a few weeks.


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[butcherboy]

If that is all that’s left on the head then you can start degreasing. You can probably remove most of that tissue pretty quick with a pairing knife as well. If it’s in a 5 gallon bucket for degreasing then a few cups of dawn will be fine. Add about 1/2-1 cup of industrial strength ammonia as well. Change the water when it’s murky. The degreasing shouldn’t take more than a week to maybe two at the most with a steady temp of 110-115 degrees. Do not go above that temp if you can help it. The smell will never completely go away if you just air it out. Don’t use bleach to whiten the skull. It will destroy the bone pretty quick. Use peroxide and the beauty salon stuff will work if you paint it on heavy. I used 35% peroxide diluted down and did a cold soak for about 30-36 hours. Washed it off good then soaked it in clean water to completely get the peroxide off. You can’t get 35% unless you fill out the paper work with a chemical supply company. I ordered it in 55 gallon barrels.

 

[180splitg3]

Hey guys. Circling back to this old thread. Did my second head this year with warm water maceration (my son's buck). Turned out pretty good. Still fine tuning the process. I did a much better job skinning the skull this time, and it seemed to go quicker. I think my degreasing process still needs work/more time but the end result is pretty decent. I should have re-read this thread before starting! I want to get the next one whiter - I only used the volume 40 paste for whitening this time. How much of the white powder would you say you guys are mixing in with the vol. 40 (I'll need to pick some up)? I also did not use anything other than dawn for the degreasing. Could I have added some oxi clean to the bucket or something similar with the dawn? Thanks for the help!

 

[mgray]

Looks great! I have two small whitetail skulls in a metal pail with a heater now. They've been in there for about a week, and I'm adding water about every two days to keep them covered. I pulled one up a bit to check it, and it looked really dark with all the schmutz on there. Think I should be concerned?

 

[180splitg3]

Looks great! I have two small whitetail skulls in a metal pail with a heater now. They've been in there for about a week, and I'm adding water about every two days to keep them covered. I pulled one up a bit to check it, and it looked really dark with all the schmutz on there. Think I should be concerned?

Thanks. I'm not sure honestly. What temperature are you at? I left mine for about a week and then sprayed it off and it was pretty much ready for degreasing...

 

[Antares]

Looks great! I have two small whitetail skulls in a metal pail with a heater now. They've been in there for about a week, and I'm adding water about every two days to keep them covered. I pulled one up a bit to check it, and it looked really dark with all the schmutz on there. Think I should be concerned?

Change the water, don’t just top it off. Try to cover it with something (e.g., trash bag) to slow evaporation.

Everyone’s technique is different and there are many different ways to achieve good results, but I would macerate for much longer. I change water twice a week at first and then once a week as it gets closer to being done. I consider maceration done when the water remains clear and odor free after a week. Then I switch to degreasing, generally for another 3-5 weeks.

 

[180splitg3]

Change the water, don’t just top it off. Try to cover it with something (e.g., trash bag) to slow evaporation.

Everyone’s technique is different and there are many different ways to achieve good results, but I would macerate for much longer. I change water twice a week at first and then once a week as it gets closer to being done. I consider maceration done when the water remains clear and odor free after a week. Then I switch to degreasing, generally for another 3-5 weeks.

3-5 weeks seems way longer than necessary for de-greasing, at least from what I've seen on whitetails. I have only done two but they have only degreased for a week and I think they look good. Not yellow looking at all. 3-5 weeks is probably better - probably depends on how picky you are too. I have several other professional euros that were boiled and my macerated skulls look just as good as the skulls I paid to have boiled and bleached...

 

[180splitg3]

Looks great! I have two small whitetail skulls in a metal pail with a heater now. They've been in there for about a week, and I'm adding water about every two days to keep them covered. I pulled one up a bit to check it, and it looked really dark with all the schmutz on there. Think I should be concerned?

Did you change the water and spray off the head to see how it looks?

 

[mgray]

No, I dumped a little water and topped it off with fresh water. This week I’ll pull them out and spray them with a hose. Are you noticing any stains or damage on the antler bases if they’re submerged in the water?

 

[30338]

I keep learning more each fall. Somewhere north of 100 skulls macerated now. I constantly find that a properly prepped skull is 100% macerated in 95 degree water after 7-8 days. I hose off well with just the hose sprayer, then put in degreaser. Started using dawn with 20 Team Borax this year and I think they degreased better. I up my degreaser temps to 140. On the degreasing water I swap it out every 1-2 days until no more grease appears. Then simply brush on peroxide and repeat till white.

The odor seems to die down each time after the 4th day.

 

[Alpinedrifter]

What exact heater can you all recommend for maceration? I cannot fit my bull elk skull in a 5 gallon bucket, but this feed trough looks like a perfect fit. Will I need two heaters for it? Thanks

 

[Antares]

3-5 weeks seems way longer than necessary for de-greasing, at least from what I've seen on whitetails. I have only done two but they have only degreased for a week and I think they look good. Not yellow looking at all. 3-5 weeks is probably better - probably depends on how picky you are too. I have several other professional euros that were boiled and my macerated skulls look just as good as the skulls I paid to have boiled and bleached...

It'll take a year plus before you know if you degreased sufficiently. Ask me how I know.

I'm looking for a "museum quality" finished product. The last thing I want is to spend all the time macerating, degreasing, whitening, and sealing and then have grease come to the surface 1-2 years later. Depending on the species, age of the animal, and temp of your degreasing bath, one week is probably sufficient in some cases. I just err on the side of caution so my euros don't end up looking like a paper bag full of fried chicken.