I have been boiling heads for years, deer, bear antelope and elk. I do it the old fashioned way, no additives mainly beacuse I never knew what to buy to help clean the bones of meat etc...I have a large pile to do and I think now is the time to buys some chemicals What should I buy??And from where??

Buy more water. Cheap and it works.

I know, I do use a lot but I thought there was something like sada ash, or phosphate something I could add to help knock the meat loose.

The pros boil with soda ash available from swimming pool companies I think. However- I got one done this fall by an old German feller...he says to use plain water. His skulls turn out great and they last years and years without yellowing. He uses peroxide and magnesium carbonate for the whitening. Take a look in the bowhunting forum under european mount to see the pics. I do my own usually and they turn out very well but not as good as my German buddy.

the chef

I use the peroxide and whitening paste to bleach them. I think the soda ash is what I'm looking for. I too have done all of mine for years and lots opf friends' too.

It helps if you cut off as much meat as possible. Then add some washing powder or detergent for dish washers, they are quite agressive and dissolve proteines.

As stated, bleaching afterwards is done with Hydrogenperoxide, 40% works fast but does damage on horns adn teeth.

Elkman2,

The stuff your thinking of is Sal Soda or washing soda..Basically it acts as a degreaser...some use Dawn dish or dishwasher powder as DUK says...

I find I get better esults if I skin and cut off as much meat as possible to start with also use some wire to mash the brain until it can be washed out with a hose or similar. The Brain has a lot of fat in it and by removing it first, i think it helps to get the skull area clean and grease free...

Regards,

Pete

Hello;
I've just about got this down to a system. I use liberal quantities of the washing soda, which I picked up at Wal-mart. It seems to make the meat come off easier and faster. I trim off as much as I can including the jaw and put the head in boiling water. The pot is an old canner my wife "donated" and I do it on my propane camp stove in the garage for my personal safety. Every few minutes, it doesn't take long, I reach in with my industrial rubber gloves, take the skull out and scrape off what has come loose. By the time I finish that, the brain is reduced to jelly and I can fish it out with a bent piece of coat hanger wire as well as clean out all the internal passages. Then I let it dry for a week and lather it liberally with the peroxide lotion my wife got me from her hair dresser. Tried the solvent soak but it didn't seem to make much of a difference. Also found polishing with steel wool seems to smoothen the bone. I'll have to check out Chef's suggestion of the Magneium carbonate. Any idea how the Squarehead uses it?
Grizz
Grizz

quote:

The stuff your thinking of is Sal Soda or washing soda.

Arm & Hammer makes it, you can get it in your super market in the soap area, yellow box.

Works great to degrease the skull, put a hand full in the water when you begain.

You just mix it with the peroxide until it's like sour cream. Let the skull dry a couple days, then cover with the cream, let sit overnight then wash off with water. Another trick-when boiling I use the air hose on the compressor to blow out the little bits of yukky shit (technical word).

the chef

I use the Dremmel to clean off any small chunks of shit, and for some of those hard to reach spots, nerve channels ets. then I do the "bleaching" with the peroxide. Mine usually come out a nice creamy white and People do like them..I will try some of the washing soad...Is this the same as Borax??? 20 mule team?? I don't ever remember seeing Washinf Soda in the stores

Elkman,

Nope Borax is something else completely...I have heard of people dusting the insides of their finished skull mounts with it as it acts as an insecticide and disinfectant type thing..I can't see the point myself if the skull as already been boiled and treated with peroxide...

When your looking for sal soda, be careful you actually get "washing soda"...In the housewears section you might also see bi-carbonate of soda and/or caustic soda (Draino?)..The later is certainly a powerful degreaser but can cause pitting and erosion of the bone depending how much is used and for how long..

Regards,

Pete

I bought a box , made by Arm and Hammer, the box was yellow and it was some typr of laundry soap..I put 2 of the measuring cups into the water and boiled up 2 mulie skulls I started at 11am now it is 2PM and they are drying..I think it helped and they are a lot cleaner overall than the skulls I did Tuesday....Thanks a lot every one that offered guidance. Tomorrow I have 4 goats!!

Actually, in mounting birds, Borax is the preserving agent, normally used for the skins. I believe its Sodium borate and comes almost exclusively from one source in Death Valley.
Grizz

Grizz,

From the little I know about taxidermy, Borax's main use probably is in preserving skins as you say..however a friend was looking to send a European mount over to Canada, and he was told the skull had to be well dusted with Borax for them to allow it in the country??? As I said, it seemed a bit pointless, but thats red tape I guess..

Regards,

Pete

Elkman2,

Do you have to clean batches of skulls like this often?

If so, you might be better just leaving them soak in water untill the flesh rots off..In the summer it only takes a couple of months and then you can blast the remain crap off with a hose or better still a pressure washer..

The bugs that do the work are not active in the winter, so in the past people used to rig up a heater from a fish tank so the process could continue working...

Regards,

Pete

I'd really like to try the maceration method. It's supposed to be much superior. All my stuff usually is done in the late fall and it's too cold.....pity

the chef

I don't think I could handle that way of doing it. My stomach can't handle that kind of stink..I have a buddy that picked up 2 bison heads last fall, He put them in a creek and let them sit all summer, they came out spotless, a little stained from the mud, There are a lot of crawfish in this creek,, I never went close to them when they were "being cleaned" don't like that smell.

Elkman,

Actually the smell is not that bad until you disturb the bucket or tank...At the end when you pour all the crap away, thats when it really hits you... the smell could gag a skunk!

Mind you boiling them out is not exactly pleasant either, but I find it stinks alot less
if you remove the brains first...they are easy enough to mash up with a bit of wire and then just flush the cavity out with water...


Regards,

Pete

Pete, I boiled 4 goat heads today it took maybe 3 hours, the hardest part was getting the horns off. I used the washing soda and It really made a difference, the meat just kind of gelled up and I could remove it by hand easily... As far as the smell, yes boiling can stink a little, buy no way in HELL would I do that let em rot in a pail stuff..I'ed gag and puke for weeks after..I have a story about bear bait, for another time, I can still smell that and it was 20 years ago.

Elkman,

It sounds like one of those smells that is so bad you can taste it!

BTW, How did you get the horns off? was it much trouble? I might be faced with a similar task in the not too distant future...

Regards

Pete

When I owned my taxidermy shop I would remove horns as follows:

Spray the skull and horns with a water hose to wet them down and then put them into a plastic garbage bag - preferably one of the black ones - and tie it shut.

Let the bag sit in our warm Texas sun for 2-3 days and then pull the horns off. The moisture and a couple of days of warmth were just enough to get enough enzymes working to break the seal on the horns.

Sometimes ram skulls are a little stubborn. After a couple of days in the bag, hold the end of one horn and whap the front of the skull and horn base against a tree. That usually popped the horns off.

Good luck!

JDS

Pete, I just put the heads in the pot with water coming up 2-3in onto the horns, let her boil for a while, I'm talking min. here not hours. Take them out and check them, if they seem loose wiggle them and then start rapping the skull with a 2 x4 while holding the horn in your hand. make sure you hit directly between the horns, the skull is very thick there and will not break, If they don't come off with 3-4 wacks toss them back in to boil some more. One of the goats was killed late in Oct. they start dropping their horns then, those came off real nice, the ones from early Oct. took some cooking and pounding.

Elkman,

Thanks for the advice about removing the horns...but your pulling my leg with regards goats "shedding" their horns like deer do antlers????"

Regards,

Pete

No it is true, Their horns are made of hair, seriously, and they shed the hard black outer covering. Our season runs til Nov.30th and by the !st of Nov. it is hard to find a buck with horns!! Pronghorns are facinating animals..Do a Google search on them..

Best way to do the maceration method and keep the smell down is to change the water daily. The flesh will still decay and come off but with not nearly the aroma.

Elkman,

I thought your were talking about Mountain or perhaps feral goat! Speed goats never crossed mind!

Regards,

Pete

That is all they are called around here.

Oh yea . . . I forgot to mention that when you are whapping the horns against the tree, remember to keep your mouth closed! There is usually a little splatter!

You may forget the first time, but you won't the second!


Good luck!

JDS

Yeah, I should have said something too, I had crap everywhere after that 4 goat day, the brains are nasty!