Best way to whiten skulls

I simmered a coyote, beaver, mink and muskrat skull on low in a crock pot with some borax and laundry detergent for about 8 hours, then sprayed them off with a hose and took a brush to get the meat out of the nooks and crannies. Took a wire to get inside the skull cavity and pick the goo out of there. Been letting them dry most of the day and I'm wondering if soaking them in peroxide might help give them a final white appearance. I'm assuming I'd want to pull the beaver and muskrat teeth so they stay yellow then epoxy them back in or something? Of course, part of me kind of likes the natural bone-white look and I'm not sure if I should get them bleach-white.

Throw that whole mess into a bunch of peroxide. Beaver and muskrat teeth too!

The skulls probably won’t get pure white since you haven’t degreased them, but they’ll look decent anyways.

The teeth will be fine in peroxide. The darker areas of the bone is grease in the bone. Peroxide will disinfect the bone surface and whiten it to some extent but if you do not degrease, the grease will migrate to the surface.

I use white Elmers Glue where necessary on bone and teeth. It is water soluble and dries clear. Many epoxies and superglue will yellow.

The peroxide you need is what is sold at hair salon supply shops, 40% or higher. It's almost a paste that can be painted on with a brush.

You can use dollar store peroxide too, it just takes longer to whiten.

how do you degrease a skull ?

dawn soap ?

Thank you guys so what's the preferred method for degreasing?

I prefer the natural bone white color. I have only done whitetail skulls so far, but I degreased them and they came out looking awsome. The clear unscented dish soap is what I used. Need to run the water at 120 degrees though. I built a tank using a water heater element. Takes time too, couple weeks depending how greasy the skulls are.

Dawn diswashing soap in 120 degree water is how I do it also. I also built a special tank as there are not any reasonably priced units available to heat to the 110 to 120 degree range readily available on the market. This is not an inexpensive process or a fast process. It costs money to heat and keep water in the temperature range that works best. Some greasy skulls like bear and hogs take many months to get done to the point that they can be whitened and stay white over time.

Simmered/boiled heads are harder to degrease also as the heat seems to set the grease in the bone and in my experience, it takes a lot longer for the grease to leach out. Too much heat will also cause the bone to break down and flake and cause the fine nasal bones to disintegrate. I macerate to remove the soft tissue without damaging the bone and those skulls degrease more easily. Dermestid beetles work well also for removing soft tissue without bone damage but does not speed up degreasing.

If you are serious about cleaning skulls without damaging them, taxidermy.net is the best resource I am aware of. There is a Skulls and Skeletons forum with lots of good information about maceration, degreasing and whitening skulls.

Yup!

If you like the "natural "look of the bone white you can soak it and it won't be too unnatural if you want it really white use the peroxide you get at the salons it does a great job.
Good luck

My taxidermist who happens to be the father of one of my best friends told me that the 40% peroxide mixed with whitening crystals does a better job than just peroxide. He told me to just make a paste with the crystals and peroxide and paint it on the bone. Of course this is after doing everything else including degreasing.

He calls European mounts his stinky money because they are simple and quick to do but boiling them stinks.

Dirtydog, that looks like a great way to degrease, much cheaper and easier than a tank run at 120 degrees. I'll try that for a few months and report back, thank you!

I'll give you a report in a few months, for better or worse.

That's what I did with the beaver, mink and muskrat skull. Saw the flies were swarming in the shed and since I've got all my lure buried I was wondering what they were after. Then I saw the skulls I had on nails on the wall. Figured good a time as any to throw them in the pot and pull the coyote out of the freezer. Wishing I hadn't sold my otter skulls now. I'll have to get more next year.

I’ll never boil another skull.

Water maceration method works better and is less work.

Really works well on stuff with no antlers or horns.

I have had success letting the bugs eat the flesh off then simmering in water and dawn dish soap to degrease then whitening with 3% peroxide. Gotta be careful though, had a bear dig up my last buck skull and carry it off. But I've got some beaver muskrat, fox and a fisher skull to work on this summer.