Hey everyone,
I have been bleaching (with hydrogen peroxide) a moose skull. I found it on a bog and one side was bleached by the sun, the other side was in moss and had turned green. I can't get the stuff off! How can I go about this without destroying this already fragile skull? Sand paper? Any help would be great.
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You may never get it off... Boe being as porous as it is readily absorbs colours from chemicals that can tint it. Provided it's just a little bit of staining, then yes, sanding MAY work. If the green stain has penetrated deeply though, then no amount of sanding will help. Before sanding, what you can try is to use peroxide in a more localized way. Put some peroxide on a towel and lay that just over the tinted area. Place ths skull and towel in a container or bag and keep sealed. You want the towel to remain very damp with peroxide. After a couple of days you should see an improvement if it is going to work. You can also use peroxide paste in place of the towel. The towel thing is cheap and readily available and will let ya know if it will help. Keep in mind though that it might just never come out. I have an old deer skull that has green blotches on it from moss staining that will just always have that green tint to it. Personally - I like it. I like natural looking skulls and often don't whiten ones for my own collection. Having that green staining, or dark chocolate brown etc. can have it's own appeal.