Concern About Degreasing By Acetone

Do you happen to have a dry picture of the skull? Are you sure it's grease. 1 year is a long time.

 

Dry it out and then see if it is grease, it could be iron stains or it could just need whitening with peroxide. I may be wrong but I don't think acetone will harm the bone.

 

Acetone will not damage or interact with bone in any way so your skull is safe. I agree that you need to take it out and let it dry to see what you have. Acetone is not a miracle degreaser and I have found that it really only gets out a little (mostly oils) but that it does do something to alter the grease so that detergents can move it out better. Can't tell much from your photos because they are not clear and out of focus. Try taking it outside into better light and don't get so close with the camera. It may not be grease at all but iron/mineral stains. If it was a young animal, yes the growth plates will be very loose so as little handling as possible is best. Fortunately, they also glue back together very easily.

 

I've done just about everything from moose to domestic cats and have never used acetone alone, it is what I will use, at times to shock, if you will, stubborn grease into letting go and migrating on out and then back into degreasing with water and soap. I assure you that most that do this, want to keep skulls in good condition.

 

I don't know what you have for a critter but don't use "hot" water. If it isn't a deer or sheep water temp should be 115 degrees. Below that it won't get the grease out as well if at all. Deer/sheep need a temp of 120 degrees constant. If your water wasn't heated before, this is why the grease just sat there.

 

Absolutely. You are making soup, not cleaning bone. That high of a temperature destroys the integrity of the bone itself. Boiling water is 200 degrees and you are not far off from boiling the bone. Bones cooked in a crock pot are going to end up being brittle and fragile. If you are cleaning the flesh off bones this way, you really have to be vigilant and remove them as soon as the flesh is off. It can be hastened by adding a couple of tablespoons of baking soda but you really have to monitor what is happening. Walking off and just leaving it to sit risks damaging it or outright destroying it.

If for degreasing, yes, that temp is much to high.

 

The acetone will have had no effect other than to alter the grease a bit. What you could do would be to set it aside and let it dry out. The acetone will evaporate out of it in a very short time. You could take a look at it and see if you are happy with the way it looks. Possibly, all it will need is a touch of peroxide to whiten it if you want it whiter looking.