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I did my first Euro recently. I boiled out a skull from a buck I killed a couple of years ago. I had it hung up in a tree with its antlers protected from the sun so some of the process was already in motion. I probably boiled it for a total of about 3.5 hours. Not continuous but maybe an hour to 1.5 max and then remove meat and stuff. Anyway....I thought I had it to the point of whitening so I added the two part 40% solution from Sally Beauty supply. It seemed to work ok but in spots it is not snow white. It seems maybe some oils are still trapped into the skull? Possibly due to me hanging or possibly due to me not boiling enough or possibly because I don't know what I'm doing. Anyway....just curious where I should go from here? Maybe put in a bucket with some white gas or something like that and then add the whitening agent again?
The picture gives you an idea. This was after almost a full day of whitening. I re-slathered the stuff on it and left it for another 2 days. It is whiter now but still not up to snuff in my opinion..thoughts?
I simmer and pressure wash a few cycles.
On the last two simmers I add either Dawn dish soap or a couple of dishwasher soap pods. I think the pods work better. Then peroxide.
If in a month or so the skull starts to leach grease again, then you can simmer it again with soap or just use the peroxide again.
The peroxide paste will penetrate the bone with heat. Put it out in the sun on a warm day and it'll whiten. Leave it on for a week. Ed F
Watch the videos on YouTube frome whitebone creations. I had four skulls that had sat in a shed for 1 to four years before I watched his videos and did all of them in about 3 hours.
Here is on of them that I did, it was three years old with the meat still on the skull.
Exactly what Ed said... make sure there's not any squirrels around.
The darker areas are grease that was still in the nasal membrane/meat/brains. You might try boiling it again with some Tide with bleach to pull that grease out and then peroxide again. You should be able to get it really pretty white with a little more work.
If you don't get all the grease out, it will keep leaching to the surface and showing up as dark spots.
It is easiest to get all the stuff off early, before the grease starts soaking out into the bone. Bears and pigs are really bad about that.
Thanks guys.
Ed,
Should I leave it exposed or put it in a plastic bag or something like that?
Yes. I ceran?? Wrap mine. Once the paste dries it's done. Same reason salons use a bag. Apply the paste while the skull is still damp, wrap, put in sun. Deer are easy and usually not greasy. I've done them in as little as a few hrs in direct sun, I also live in NM. If I could jump higher I could touch the sun.
For future ref, the longer a head sits around the hard the grease is to get out. Often you don't see it right away but over time it will seep and yellow. Damp application helps to draw out leftover grease.
I thought this was going to be a currency related question for someone going bowhunting in Europe.....LOL
Actually I was needing help on a basketball move.
The splotches tend to fade out after the bone starts drying and the peroxide has time to kick in .............reboil with degreaser like dawn dish soap or some laundry soap or both.....be careful as some of the laundry stuff has bleachening agents that eat away at the bone over time.
Love euros! These were done with beetles, then degreased and peroxide.
