I have been using gas to degrease deer skulls for european mount. What else could I use?
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works be damn carefull though! there are other safer products out there that do the same thing and much safer!
I will pay the tatoo artist you hire to write these words on your foreheads: "SOLVENTS ARE NOT DEGREASERS." GAS IS A SOLVENT, ACETONE IS A SOLVENT. SOAPS ARE DEGREASERS! When you soak in a solvent, the grease is DISSOLVED but is suspended in the solvent. That means that it leaves a residual stain on whatever it is you're supposed to be degreasing. Soap actually breaks down the grease and allows it to be washed away WITH WATER. DUH!
George, you sound like a tape recorder :-)
DaveT
Having a skull cleaning business has taught me that soaking a skull in just a surfactant DEGREASER is not enough to get deep into the bone. A year or so later and the skull turns yellow. The best way to fully degrease a skull is to soak in a SOLVENT for at least 30 days for things like bear and at least 14 days for all others. You are right George, Solvents are Solvents and Degreasers are Degreasers but surfactants alone just don't cut it in my opinion. If you have a good way to degrease a beetle cleaned skull using Degreasers, please share with me so that I don't have to use Solvents any more. As a side note, if you choose to use Solvents to clean skulls, you must check them often to make sure that they are not sitting directly on the bottom of the container. Fat and grease is more dense than solvent and will sink to the bottom. If the skull sits in that mixture of thinned out fat, then just like George said, it will just suspend the grease in the skull and stain it. If you raise it up off the bottom, anything that comes out of the skull will sink to the bottom and not stay in the skull. I will say that the use of gasoline, or white gas is not a good idea and could end your life. All it take is a small static spark in a plastic container to cause a nice flash and burn all of the hair off of you. Another note is the use of high percentage Peroxide for bleaching. I have been to two fires now (what I do for a living) where peroxide leaked out of the container and onto the cement shop floor which caused a chem reaction which makes large amounts of heat. There were boxes close to the spill which lit off causing the fires. I mixed 35% Peroxide with some climbing chalk which is used as a mixture to paint on skulls to bleach. I made it so that I could spray it on with a plastic spray bottle and after several hours the bottle exploded due to the high heat that was created. Hope this helps and be careful out there!
And I agree with everything YOU said. In concert with one another, I can see where the solvent would infiltrate the porous bone cavities in the brain cap areas and eliminate that grease seepage in years to come. Excellent post.
what solvents should I use?
From what I have found the best, safest, and cheapest is to buy LAQUER THINNER. I use five gallon plastic buckets with lids and then buy the thinner be the five gallon containers. Use something like bailing wire to suspend the skull off of the bottom. For bears put it in and forget it for 30 days. For deer and the like, 12 - 14 days will usually work. Email me if you have any problems.
could I do this with a skull that I have already peroxided. There is some yellow spots in it that I would like to remove?
Yes, I do it fairly often. Even if it has been sealed, the thinner will eat through that also. After the soak, give it a good bath in Dawn or a commercial degreaser and then let it dry for a few weeks befor resealing it.
I just happened to stumble upon this site, and thought that perhaps someone here could give me some direction. I am trying my first attempt at doing a skull mount for a whitetail deer. I have no special knkowledge, just kinda winging it. My question is..? I have boiled the skull twice now and have already bleached it in 20 volume peroxide. Upon touching the skull up afterwards, I realized that the brains were still inside and had not boiled or disolved from the peroxide. I have tried to scoop them out with a plastic knife only to find out that I'm not quite " the Man" I thought (meaning that I got a little squimish and disgusted) could anyone give me some pointers as to how I might be able to finish this without having to sicken myself.
I also would like to know if this can be done without having the wheather or critters destroy it....I look forward to hearing from anyone with knowledge on this topic.
take your skull to the car wash and blow the brains out
Ive used dishwashing liquid such as as dawn in the boiling process of the skull works great here is my process AFTER removing the skin and most of the meat I then boil the skull in water with dish washing liquid after several hours I take the skull out remove as much meat as possible and boil it a second time using a new batch of dish liquid and water I repeat the process sevral times or until the the meat just falls off .By using a new batch of soapy water everytime you boil you eliminate the fat