I boiled two deer skulls and didn't have the antlers submerged in the water, When i removed them the antlers were greasy, oily, and really dark even after drying for a couple months. Question is can i reboil them and completely submerge them to remove the grease from them, will this remove the grease and lighten the color back up? Thanks in advance for any help.
P.S. I am a newby and will be heading to Joe Meder's whitetail class in April to get started with taxidermy. I'm really pumped!
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Scrub the antlers with dishwashing detergent and warm water.this will also remove any blood that may have been left on the rack.It's important to always do this after boiling.That grease residue and or blood,can attract bugs to your mount later on.
I don't boil but have cleaned up a few that others have made a mess of. I refuse them now. ie. Elk skulled boiled took me 2 1/2 weeks to degrease where normally it takes a week after beetles. The Elk still had tissue cooked in the fissures and nasal areas. Grease like you are finding in the antlers. Soak as much as possible in warm water/dawn dishwashing soap and change the solution daily. Do this till there is no grease floating on the water after the 24 hour soak.
Just got home and will try to soap and scrub the antlers in warm water. That is what I kinda thought might work and should be an easy fix, i hope.
Thanks Again, Ryan
What do you think about the dark antlers, will this help lighten them back up? They don't look bad, kinda dark like a northern (Canadian) rack?
It should lighten them up.I can't remember any I've done being darkened.