[double gun]

I’m just telling the op what we we taught - that heating the peroxide helps do a better, faster job. Hundreds of taxidermists wouldn’t bother if it didn’t work. And yes always do it outdoors with perfect ventilation - I figured that would be a given with all chemicals. Since he was asking about whitening, I thought it was safe to assume that the flesh was already removed. However:

As for methods of flesh removal, beetles aren’t practical for most people as they are a pain to take care of. They stink, need a climate controlled home, need to be fed throughout the year and can be tricky to contain so most guys have a separate building just for them.

Maceration is great if you have the time and space but again up here most deer are killed in November so that means doing it indoors and most won’t tolerate the smell inside a building.

So like it or not simmering is the most popular method by far. No you don’t hard boil it, nobody said you should. But simmering in water, with a squirt of soap in the brain cavity - mixed with power washing works and does squat for damage to the bone including the delicate nasal bones. Some added washing soda but I never liked to.

I do agree that one of the most important steps is a proper degreasing, and for that I was taught to use everything from acetone to a mild soapy solution being circulated by a air pump. And this process can take from days to months depending on the species and particular specimen.

Lastly we were taught the best, fastest method to whiten was as I suggested earlier - submerge the skull in hydrogen peroxide, bring to a light roll, kill the heat and let it sit 10-15min. Some guys use peroxide cream, some a mixture of peroxide cream and basic white, but most of those guys wrapped it in plastic wrap and - again put it in front of a heater. Just like the beauty salons have old ladies sit under the heaters when bleaching their hair.

Bleach as suggested will damage the bone, and not just while it’s in the chemical, it can continue to breakdown the bone after the soak and as such is NOT recommended.

Some seal the skulls afterwards with paraloid B-72 but I personally don’t like the look.


Again, I’m not looking to argue. I honestly don’t give a rats azz if you agree or not. I was helping the op with techniques that I learned and give good results with consistency.