I'm having some trouble degreasing a couple of deer skulls. I read the archives and used the advice but to no avail. I cleaned them by warm water maceration, one i left in longer than the other and it started to discolor a little the one I took out early looks nice a clean. I used dawn antibacterial soap and it obviously took some fat out but there are some deposits of fat that almost resemble soap in consistency and I haven't had total success in getting them clean. After the dawn I tried orange citrus solvent and didn't have any better luck. Does anyone have any experience with this problem and will Rittels saftee solvent do any better. Please help. thanks
Return to Deer Taxidermy Category Menu
There is over 50 post on degreasing alone.
I just posted one in the past week.
I read your other post but am I doing something wrong with the dawn or is it just not the best degreaser? I used very hot tap water and soaked them for about 48 hrs changing the water a couple of times.
Scrubbing the skull with a toothbrush in warm water with Dawn. Is the discoloration on the forehead? If so it may be harder to get it perfect, but try soaking it in Hydrogenperoxide 35%+-, then let it dry in the sun, then try washing/scrubbing it again then do the HP treatment until you get it finished. I have never been able to degrease "inside the bone" grease, but I get them with the HP.
I used a toothbrush everywhere I could get one but the problem seems to be either in the bone and right in the area of the upper nasal cavities. I assume that there must be some fat in those nasal bones which I'll never be able to scrub out and I'm just wondering if there's something I haven't tried that will work. As far as the peroxide goes, will I have fat bleed through after it's whitened if I don't find a way to get the fat from the bone?