Thread: bleaching / whitening a skull

what do people recommend and what must i stay away from?
(I've boiled and water blastered it and it looks good so far)

Blonde hair dye

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

Blonde hair dye

i was looking at blonde hair dye - it comes in different 'strengths'. very confusing

Get the strongest one ie: has the most peroxide in it. Mix it up, brush it on, leave and hour or so then clean it off

I'm just in the process of doing one, not quite 100% clean yet before a final degrease and peroxide.

It can be confusing as sometimes it is described as vol 20 (6%) vol 40 (12%) etc...TRADEME normally has a few examples although they seem pricey this year, I've normally got litre of developer for around $20 from memory.
Will have a look in a chemist but I think they will be more expensive.

Once your happy its clean and degreased put some protection around the base of the antlers, get a plastic tray that will fit the skull in and paint it on starting on the inside. Get into all the cavity. Put it somewhere warm, and leave it for 12-24 hours.
I normally do it before work then wash it off when I get home and let it dry fully before either settling with the result or giving it a bit more..I'm happy with taking a bit longer to get it right.

Good luck its rewarding and a good way of honouring your efforts on the hill and the animal.

Ant hill.

This is a cham skull done with hair dye, have done several with it now

Used “baquashock” last ones I did. It’s a pool cleaning liquid from farmlands. Was $60 for 5 litres and I used 1 litre of it on 2 tahr skulls.

Originally Posted by Mick Hunter

Used “baquashock” last ones I did. It’s a pool cleaning liquid from farmlands. Was $60 for 5 litres and I used 1 litre of it on 2 tahr skulls.

Need to be careful with that because it's basically a strong alkali/chlorine and will actually chew into the bone and pit it if made up too strong or for too long

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

Get the strongest one ie: has the most peroxide in it. Mix it up, brush it on, leave and hour or so then clean it off

Yes, this is what I do. So easy. If it's not white enough to your liking, do it again.

Originally Posted by Smartie

I'm just in the process of doing one, not quite 100% clean yet before a final degrease and peroxide.

It can be confusing as sometimes it is described as vol 20 (6%) vol 40 (12%) etc...TRADEME normally has a few examples although they seem pricey this year, I've normally got litre of developer for around $20 from memory.
Will have a look in a chemist but I think they will be more expensive.

Once your happy its clean and degreased put some protection around the base of the antlers, get a plastic tray that will fit the skull in and paint it on starting on the inside. Get into all the cavity. Put it somewhere warm, and leave it for 12-24 hours.
I normally do it before work then wash it off when I get home and let it dry fully before either settling with the result or giving it a bit more..I'm happy with taking a bit longer to get it right.

Good luck its rewarding and a good way of honouring your efforts on the hill and the animal.

@Smartie what do you mean by final degrease?

Originally Posted by bigbear

@Smartie what do you mean by final degrease?

@bigbear

I may be mistaken, but @Smartie may refer to use of a detergent as any grease/fat may form a protective layer and prevent the peroxide from doing its job.

oven cleaner

Originally Posted by Cordite

@bigbear

I may be mistaken, but @Smartie may refer to use of a detergent as any grease/fat may form a protective layer and prevent the peroxide from doing its job.

So give it a wash with warm water and detergent and let it dry before applying peroxide?

Originally Posted by bigbear

So give it a wash with warm water and detergent and let it dry before applying peroxide?

Yep pretty much that , warm/hot wash with detergent to get rid of any remaining fat/grease. I'll chuck up a photo of a few finished ones and a before and after of the one I'm doing now.