Whitening skulls

[Zem18]

So I am doing my own skull this year. What a PITA. I have done all the boiling and scraping, and re boiling, and then soaked in dawn and water for over a week to degreaser. Man does it still stink a touch. Now I am onto whitening. I bought some 40 volume creme developer stuff from Sally's awhile back and it has been on my backbench unopened. Says good for 3 years on the bottle. Anyways, I painted it on thick and have been re moisturizing it but it still looks yellow to me. This is the second day it has been on there. I want it WHITE. Any of you use the creme before? Should I wash it off and then reapply maybe to see if it will turn more white? Maybe mix it with water and let it soak? I'm afraid if I mix it, it will cut the power of the peroxide. Here are a few pics

Any suggestions are appreciated.Thanks.

[wooly]

Wrap the creamy skull in cellophane and put some heat to it now.

 

[Skillet]

You are doing the right thing and have all the right stuff.  Once you have had the 40 vol on for like 12 to 24 hrs rinse it off and set it in the sun for three days.  The sun bleaching will whiten it more and should achieve the bright white you desire.  Glue the teeth in and give it a spray of antifungal aerosol available in Mckenzie Taxidermy supplies online or even a low shine clear sealer.  Looks great!

[mlammerhirt]

_{You are headed in the right direction.....like Skillet said you now need the sun to help you along with this process.}

 

_{Deff. an experience doing your own, but sometimes in the end it is worth 100.00 to have it done by someone else.}

[Lawdwaz]

Sun?  For THREE days?

 

 

 

You guys are killing me! 

[wooly]

http://www.taxidermy.net/forum/index.php/topic,125076.0.html

[Zem18]

Thanks guys. The link Wooly provided says it needs heat, not so much the sunlight. I have a mini electric jobby in the garage so I will give that a try. Tedious little project but it is a learning experience. Praying the stench goes away or it will live in the garage. Ill update in a few days with more pics.

[Skillet]

Sun?  For THREE days?

 

 

 

You guys are killing me! 

Law, that was my GF posting. She's a full time taxidermist & has been one for quite a while, so I'm pretty sure she knows the business. Yes, the sun is good for whitening, & yes it takes several days.

Edited December 31, 2014 by Skillet

[Five Seasons]

I was going to tackle this project this year with my 9. After talking to my cousin who has done a few, I decided paying for it was a better deal haha. good luck.

[genesee_mohican]

Yes, I do my own and prefer a more natural look. I use only Hydrogen Peroxide at the end which whitens a touch and disinfects.

[Lawdwaz]

I'm one of those folks that doesn't like a pure white skull. I think they look fake and 'plasticy' .

 

I prefer a little patina and coloration to remain. Anyone else feel this way?

 

They all seem to yellow a bit after awhile from my experience.  

 

One thing I will say and is I can't stand those dipped skulls with all the graphics on them.  Such a horrible thing to do to a skull IMO but YMMV of course.

[jjb4900]

in terms of looking "natural", aren't bones pretty much pure white or very close to it when you first skin out and butcher an animal? that greasy yellow look is unappealing in my opinion.

[G-Man]

if it stinks then all the meat or tissue is not removed... is the brain case and sinuses clean? (one of the reasons a true european mount was cut, aids in removal of brain and sinus matter) heat will whiten all cooked bones are white.. as it boils the marrow out of them removing the grease.

[Terry]

The yellow look comes from the grease making it's way out over time.

[Five Seasons]

I'm one of those folk that doesn't like a pure white skull. I think they look fake and 'plasticy' .

 

I prefer a little patina and coloration to remain. Anyone else feel this way?

 

I'm having my first one done. Never a huge fan because I think they kind of have that road kill look to them, but when you have a nice buck that's not quite a mounted it does deserve a little something extra.

 

I'm not sure if I love this or if I think it's tacky as hell. But it's an interesting option if you don't like the white. These were just google searches below.

Edited January 2, 2015 by Belo

[jjb4900]

I'm having my first one done. Never a huge fan because I think they kind of have that road kill look to them, but when you have a nice buck that's not quite a mounted it does deserve a little something extra.

 

I'm not sure if I love this or if I think it's tacky as hell. But it's an interesting option if you don't like the white. These were just google searches below.

tacky as hell.....

[The_Real_TCIII]

I was going to tackle this project this year with my 9. After talking to my cousin who has done a few, I decided paying for it was a better deal haha. good luck.

im with you, a bargain at twice the price

[Jeremy K]

I use the same stuff to whiten the skull, I like to finish with oxy clean spray

[hunter49]

tacky as hell.....

  How about a nice chrome skull with the antlers screwed on.  Talk about tacky!

  My son-in -law had one whitened & mounted on wood for $50 bucks, dropped it off , picked it up & hung it on the wall,  no muss no fuss  and it looks good.!

Edited January 2, 2015 by hunter49

[Five Seasons]

  How about a nice chrome skull with the antlers screwed on.  Talk about tacky!

  My son-in -law had one whitened & mounted on wood for $50 bucks, dropped it off , picked it up & hung it on the wall,  no muss no fuss  and it looks good.!

 

that's a hell of a price. heck it's about $20 just to put it on a plaque and wrap a capped rack.

[stoneam2006]

I love my dipped skull for the price I'll probably never do it any other way.

[phade]

I really like dipped skulls after getting a few of them done. I prefer them flat and not glossed up. They look neat.

[Terry]

Check these out to hang your skull on the wall like it's looking at you

http://www.taxidermistwoodshop.com/mobile/Product.aspx?ProductCode=SH01

[Zem18]

So I rinsed the creme developer off today. I had set it in front of the heater for about an hour the other night and just kept it in the bin until tonight. It has turned mostly white but there is some yellow still showing. I think it might be grease but I'm not sure.

I saw some dark matter in the brain cavity so I did some drilling and cutting on the back side to get access to it and scraped some more stuff out which I think is the source of the smell. There might be something in the sinus cavity too but it's like wet paper in there and it doesn't want to come out. I decided to let it dry tonight and probably the rest of the weekend. Then I will see where it is at smell wise and formulate a plan. It is looking better and I am not giving up. I took some pics while heating it. Ill post them up tomorrow along with some pics of it drying without the peroxide on it.

I also bought some superglue to fix the nose bones as it was a younger deer and they broke off and separated.

Don't care for the dipped skulls. The natural look is, well, more natural which adds to the presentation I am looking for. Nothing against them but just not for me.

[jjb4900]

I bury my skulls and cover the antlers from critters. Nature does a great job in cleaning them up.

I did that once with a roadkill I was given........didn't turn out half bad and actually came out nice and white after I bleached it with the stuff you can get at a beauty supply place.