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Degreasing skulls #6560740
06/23/19 08:05 AM
06/23/19 08:05 AM
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 388
wisconsin, manitowoc
mutt Offline OP
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mutt  Offline OP
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Joined: Apr 2012
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wisconsin, manitowoc
I just finished masarating some deer skulls. Now on to degreasing, is there any concern with the antlers? The skulls are locked together(they are stuck, I tried seperating them to make clean up easier), so there is no way to soak only the skull without soaking antler. The antlers are brown yet, I am trying to keep them that way. Planning on using dawn or ammonia soak with the aquarium heaters. No boiling, I cant keep the antlers out of the water.

Also is there a deoderizing step I will need to take or will the degreasing remove the slight smell that's left? [Linked Image]

Re: Degreasing skulls [Re: mutt] #6560744
06/23/19 08:16 AM
06/23/19 08:16 AM
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 200
Ohio
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WayOfLife Offline
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Ohio
You can degrease with dawn. Keep the temperature up in the tank. The smell should subside with dawn followed by a good rinsing and then adequate dry time followed by Elmer's glue to seal them up. You can also hit them with some deodorizer also if you like. Change the water regular to help with the smell and degreasing process.

Re: Degreasing skulls [Re: mutt] #6560795
06/23/19 09:16 AM
06/23/19 09:16 AM
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Posts: 4,820
Frazee, MN
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backroadsarcher Offline
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I simmer the water and mix dawn dish soap in. Let the skulls simmer for a while. Seems to work for me.

Re: Degreasing skulls [Re: mutt] #6560814
06/23/19 09:31 AM
06/23/19 09:31 AM
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 3,162
Green Bay, Wisconsin
tlguy Offline
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Green Bay, Wisconsin
You are gonna want to wrap the antlers in something or they will lose that beautiful brown color anywhere they're submerged. I've seen guys wrap the base of the beams in saran wrap, then electrical tape real tight to keep the water out.

Re: Degreasing skulls [Re: mutt] #6560844
06/23/19 10:02 AM
06/23/19 10:02 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 17,770
N.W. Iowa
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Tactical.20 Offline
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N.W. Iowa
Good mixture of simple green and 90 degree water bath, try to keep antlers out of water

Last edited by Tactical.20; 06/23/19 10:02 AM.
Re: Degreasing skulls [Re: mutt] #6560849
06/23/19 10:09 AM
06/23/19 10:09 AM
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,614
Suffolk new york
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Miley Offline
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Suffolk new york
“Whitebone creations hunting “on you tube . Great tutorial!

Re: Degreasing skulls [Re: mutt] #6560883
06/23/19 11:13 AM
06/23/19 11:13 AM
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 6,518
MB
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Jurassic Park Offline
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You’ll need to get the water up to 120F in order to degrease a deer skull. Add dawn dish soap to the water. Those antlers will fade a bit if you allow them to sit in the water for a few weeks. The worse part is that they lose all the bark that’s at the bases from when they were rubbing.
I haven’t found a way that I like yet that keeps the antlers out of the water.


Cold as ice!
Re: Degreasing skulls [Re: mutt] #6560912
06/23/19 11:59 AM
06/23/19 11:59 AM
Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 2,971
Oklahoma
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Matt28 Offline
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Oklahoma
Sshaffer on here has some great tip on skulls. Whitebone creations is also a good you tube channel. Seranwrap and black tape will help with the antlers getting dark but they already look kinda darn in the pic. The skulls already look pretty clean too. I would pressure wash them and put some whitening stuff on and be done. I use 40 volume developer.

Re: Degreasing skulls [Re: mutt] #6561196
06/23/19 08:07 PM
06/23/19 08:07 PM
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 6,547
NC, Orange Co.
QuietButDeadly Offline
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NC, Orange Co.
What looks like fading on the antlers is more of the dawn removing the ground in sap and dirt that gets ground into the ridges on the antlers. Continued soaking in dawn/water will soften the sap and ground in dirt and affect the appearance. Just the nature of the beast.

The first soak in the warm dawn/water usually knocks out the maceration odor pretty good for me. I usually do the first water change after a couple days that about once a week after that.


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Re: Degreasing skulls [Re: QuietButDeadly] #6561260
06/23/19 09:55 PM
06/23/19 09:55 PM
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 388
wisconsin, manitowoc
mutt Offline OP
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mutt  Offline OP
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wisconsin, manitowoc
Originally Posted by QuietButDeadly
What looks like fading on the antlers is more of the dawn removing the ground in sap and dirt that gets ground into the ridges on the antlers. Continued soaking in dawn/water will soften the sap and ground in dirt and affect the appearance. Just the nature of the beast.

The first soak in the warm dawn/water usually knocks out the maceration odor pretty good for me. I usually do the first water change after a couple days that about once a week after that.



First hand experiance.. exactly what I was looking for. I dont mind loosing the sap and bark, I would probably prefer it to be completely cleaned out for better preservation. I can always add that look back if I desire. I was unsure of "bleaching" out the antler with a chemical. The skulls and part of the antlers have been submerged in water for a month and a half to clean off all the tissue, it's why I went with maseration. Its gentle and easy. Dang near set it and forget it.

Funny story

I am using a plastic tub from Walmart a 5$ kinda thing. They have been masarating in my ice shack and it was time to dump the liquid. So I pulled the tub over to the door(shack is a 16' 1970's camper), I didnt want to dump it right out the door, so I was gonna lift the tub out the door and into the wheelbarrow. When I lifted it out and swung to the wheelbarrow the rope handle tore out. The tub dropped onto the edge of the wheelbarrow and tipped back right into me. I caught it about waist level and a good 5 gallons of liquid soaked me good.

Re: Degreasing skulls [Re: mutt] #6561262
06/23/19 09:57 PM
06/23/19 09:57 PM
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 388
wisconsin, manitowoc
mutt Offline OP
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mutt  Offline OP
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wisconsin, manitowoc
Any cheap tricks for heating a bucket to the 110-120° range? I have 2 aquarium heaters, but they dont run that hot.

Re: Degreasing skulls [Re: mutt] #6561264
06/23/19 10:00 PM
06/23/19 10:00 PM
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 4,820
Frazee, MN
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backroadsarcher Offline
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Frazee, MN
I picked up a old turkey deep fryer burner on a auction I use. Works well and heats things up pretty fast.

Re: Degreasing skulls [Re: mutt] #6561307
06/23/19 11:00 PM
06/23/19 11:00 PM
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 6,518
MB
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Jurassic Park Offline
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[Linked Image]

Here’s my degreasing setup, got a bear skull going right now. I have a thermostat setup on the side to turn off once the water gets 124F. Bucket heater to heat the water.


Cold as ice!
Re: Degreasing skulls [Re: mutt] #6561327
06/23/19 11:39 PM
06/23/19 11:39 PM
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 388
wisconsin, manitowoc
mutt Offline OP
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wisconsin, manitowoc
What kinda thermostat do you run? A brewers thermostat?

Re: Degreasing skulls [Re: mutt] #6561335
06/23/19 11:58 PM
06/23/19 11:58 PM
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 6,518
MB
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Jurassic Park Offline
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[Linked Image]

Electric thermostat like this. I epoxied it to the side of the tote and wired the bucket heater to it.


Cold as ice!
Re: Degreasing skulls [Re: mutt] #6561371
06/24/19 05:48 AM
06/24/19 05:48 AM
Joined: May 2017
Posts: 392
West Virginia
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Sshaffer Offline
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West Virginia
When I had my business doing European Mounts I degreased over 300 bear skulls a year, plus many more deer and other skulls.

I used acetone. I had a square tank built that held nearly 50 gal. I put multiple large skulls in this at the same time. I had a rubber gasket made to seal it to prevent evaporation. For smaller skulls I used 5 gal. Buckets with sealed lids. I bought acetone in 55 gal. drums. I kept the tanks/buckets in a building that I kept at 80 degrees as it helped in the removal of the fats from the skull. Most skulls were degreased in less than 7 days. The antlers did not lose their color.

For antlered skulls it likely is not practical for an individual to use acetone. For bear sized skulls a sealed 5 gal. bucket with sealed lid works. The initial cost of acetone is offset by it being good for many, many skulls. When not in use merely pour it back into the original cans. Keep in mind this acetone would be useless for anything else, as it becomes polluted with fats. Also keep the acetone off the rubber seal as it ruins it.

If you found a sealed container big enough for them to fit in you could still use acetone. You would only need to cover the skulls. Not the antlers. It however would be costly for the acetone.

AND THE ACETONE IS EXTREMELY FLAMMABLE!!!

Good luck!!

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