Pot Belly pig 8/21/ Defeat on 10/14 BUT CYCLONE SAVES THE DAY with IRON OUT!

[Sea Wolf]

Looks like iron staining.  Have we figured out a way to get the rust out?  I seem to remember having hear of one.  (No I'm not the guy that brought up CLR as an option!)  However, if it is the tannins from foliage, I don't think there is a way to get that out - like tea staining.  Actually, if you did want to even the color up (if the spots end up driving you crazy), putting it in a bucket with a tea bag will make it a nice dark color that almost certainly will conceal those spots.

   I have actually been thinking of doing that. Tea, coffee or oak leaves. This is a first time for me with something like this. Right now, it's on the coffee table for me to growl at. I probably won't have much of a chance at another and I don't want to go off the wall and experiment with it. Still, at least I have one. But I do admit defeat for now.

[Leaf-art]

Try soaking in rust remover. Couldn't hurt.

[Great Skulls?]

SW - Don't put the pig in the tea first!  You have a ton of skulls, and I'm sure you have at least one that you can experiment with!  Get a bucket, get a tea bag and dunk a raccoon or something for a while.  I did a couple like this and was really impressed - it gives them a really cool look, but don't take my word for it.  And keep in mind that I am not big on the ultra-white look and in fact I tend to skip the whitening phase with most of my skulls.

[longnthetooth47]

i was just thinking the same thing, i would experiment first but thats just me. i personally think that the pig looks pretty neat like it is, but just my humble opinion.

[cyclone]

Try a solution of Super Iron Out....Use a test skull at first, looks like your pig might be a good test...

Your staining looks more like tannins from the decaying soil..

[Sea Wolf]

SW - Don't put the pig in the tea first!  You have a ton of skulls, and I'm sure you have at least one that you can experiment with!  Get a bucket, get a tea bag and dunk a raccoon or something for a while.  I did a couple like this and was really impressed - it gives them a really cool look, but don't take my word for it.  And keep in mind that I am not big on the ultra-white look and in fact I tend to skip the whitening phase with most of my skulls.

       Oh, I've done the tea and coffee bit before. I have tons of black, loose tea too. Trouble is, the color is not the same. This is more of an orange shade. Cyclone, I'll see about finding some Iron Out. I just have a concern of bone damage. I'll round up a test skull and see what happens with a soak. I did seal the pig skull but it's easily removed with straight acetone. It's definitely not grease. Matter of fact, it seemed to react with the ammonia and got darker. Wasn't an effect I was expecting.

[Sea Wolf]

Try a solution of Super Iron Out....Use a test skull at first, looks like your pig might be a good test...

Your staining looks more like tannins from the decaying soil..

      OK, Cyclone, firstly I have to credit you with saving this. I did go and find the "Iron Out" at the local hardware store. There was another iron remover that looked nasty and I avoided that. I guessed at a mix and made up some with hot water and tossed in the skull. What did I have to lose? Within a few minutes, I started to see a color shift in the stains. In a few hours, I'll be damned if the skull wasn't almost a bone color white. I rinsed it well in several water changes and let it dry. A few small areas had very faint stains but it was more than good enough for me.

     Now ... here's the mystery. Cyclone, can you solve this? The skull was dry and almost all white. For a touch up, I put it into peroxide overnight to accent the white. When I pulled it out the next afternoon, ALL of the dark orange stains had returned? And I mean just like before!  ... Ever heard of the water to wine .. back to water trick? This is what it seemed like. I growled and made up another pan of the Iron Out. I soaked the skull again, and again the stains vanished (mostly). The skull is now drying, pics below, and I will seal it as is when it is dry and I have reglued all the teeth again. No more peroxide. I'm leaving it as is and will see what happens in time. Do you have any idea what hapened with the peroxide to make the stains return? ... and then vanish again with the Iron Out? Obviously, something is still in the bone to react.

      Anywho, thanks Cyclone for your suggestion.  

    The bone is still a bit wet in these.







   Bone here is not as discolored as it seems. Tweaked the picture to kill the flash and it affected the color

[Toxic]

Dang, thats a complete turn around, looks  real good

[cyclone]

Sounds like an oxidation/reduction reaction..Oxidizing conditions bring the stains back, reduction makes them go away...

But please be aware that I'm not sure about the long term effects of the chemicals in the Iron Out on the bone...Time will tell..

One can still see the residual stains on the skull...time might just find those oxidizing naturally...stain returns..

[Sea Wolf]

Yeah. But for now, for the most part, they are gone. It will be sealed in paraloid which should stabilize it anyway. Thanks again for the suggestion. Whatever is in there that is causing the stain ... I'm pretty sure is still in the bone. As you said, time will tell.

[mr.T aka mr. friendly]

Sea Wolf, do you have high iron content in your water? Are you on well water? Is your washing machine red inside the drum?

[Sea Wolf]

Nope   nope  and nope. As I posted in the original thread, the person I got this from, instead of sending me a frozen head (which I would have preferred to buy) decided to rot off the flesh. I assume that it had some earth from the area tossed on it, or something. When I got it, it didn't smell bad, but was badly stained. It stayed that way until Cyclone's Iron Out trick. So far the bone also seems none the worse for wear.

[cyclone]

After a little more research on the ingredients in Iron Out I can give an educated guess that it is indeed an oxidation/reduction reaction occurring. 

Let me know if the color re-appears.  I've got a few more tricks that might just keep it  from recurring. 

The bill is in the mail...

or in the ever so popular words of MP...."Can I have it?"

[Sea Wolf]

        As an update, skull now has been sitting for almost a year. Iron stains are barely noticeable so I would say that they have not returned. Sealing the skull with paraloid may also have helped with this as it would have also killed any air contact. Skull was completely dipped in paraloid to seal it on all surfaces inside and out.

THANK YOU CYCLONE !!!      THANK YOU CYCLONE !!!        THANK YOU CYCLONE !!!          THANK YOU CYCLONE !!!         THANK YOU CYCLONE !!! 

[benjhind]

Thanks for bumping this one SW, very interesting!  I'd have had some words with that eBay seller if a frozen head was promised...