How to clean an old skull?

[Glendine]

Hi All,A friend of mine gave me a good 12 pointer red that he shot a year ago he just skinned the head and failed to do anything else so as you can imagine its in a sorry looking state. The skin on the skull is black and is attached liked old wall paper it comes of but in small sections and leaves a paper like residue on the skull. Another person is always hounding me for a head and I don’t give away any that I shot so I shall give him this if I can get it cleaned upAny advice would be grateful.Glendine.

 

[csl]

Has it been frozen or has it rotted/dried out completely?

I guess all you can do is follow the usual boiling/pressure washing procedure which should eventually get you clean (but probably rather stained) bone... but try doing a simmer for a longer time rather than a rolling boil for a shorter time because things are going to need softening up. Then it's just a case of dealing with any residual staining, probably through some aggressive bleaching.

Be gentle too... parts of the nose might be inclined to fall apart and might need re-gluing.

Disclaimer: Never done one in this state so just an educated guess!

 

[bogtrotter]

Not so easy to clean,when they have been left like that, try removing as much of the skin as you can then boil carefully with a liberal amount of washing powder, scrape as you would normally, you may need to boil a couple of times, you will need to judge for yourself the state of the head as to how long to boil as they can sometimes fall apart when they have been left as long as that
Once reasonably clean peroxide as usual as strong as you can acquire.
​Good luck

 

[Glendine]

Much obliged gentlemen.Thanks regards,Glendine.