Skull Cleaning Help...

Use Sal Soda NOT baking soda. Simmer in (not boil) in water for a while. MichaelP's technique is excellent but requires some working at the difficult places and with experience one can be better at cleaning those hard spots. If you want the stuff to just fall off, you need to simmer it in water and Sal Soda for several hours then put the skull in a container with water and let it sit for several days or a week or more. Even MichaelP has a large vat of water with a ton of skulls soaking in them behind his shop. You are probably expecting too much too fast. Let 'em sit and soak for a week or even two and they'll come out nearly clean.

 

After I get them to the point you are at, I submerge them in 27% peroxide (Baquacil sold by pool/spa stores). Some of the last bits of flesh simply dissolve. What's left turns dry and yellow and is very easily picked off. An added bonus to this method is the break down of the deep sinus material that's almost impossible to get to without bugs or maceration. Best of luck.

 

I pop those ear canals out about half way through simmer process and helps loosen the other stuff in that area. I also use scalpel at that point to shave some of that grisly meat off back of skull, then back into simmer. I've been otherwise doing it exactly as Michael P's 5 hour and getting great results.

 

Jared, how long do u submerge in the 27% peroxide? It it also reusable? Nasal cavity gives me big time fits and u got my attention with this. Thanks, Mark

 

I use baking soda, and it works as well. SAl soda, or washing soda as it is called, and baking soda are very close to the same.

 

I soak them for 24 hours. I use long forceps and a garden hose with a spray nozzle to get the bulk of the sinus material out first. Work from both front and back. Best of luck!

Yes, it's reusable. Keep it sealed. When you notice it beginning to not work well, add another gallon of peroxide. (You will do a bunch before you need to spike it)

 

Sal Soda (Sodium carbonate) vs Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate). A while back Cyclone explained that Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate), when heated is converted to Sal soda. They are the same compound when added to hot water.

 

You can also use 20 mule Borax detergent works good also, and as for the cartilage around the ears, most of it comes off as you blow dry the skull but I think it all doesnt have to come off. But im dumb and dont know much yet