re: Boiling a Deer Skull

I prefer maceration simply because you can't damage the bone. However if you are going to cook make sure you simmer , not boil. Boiling can quickly go from perfect to damaged bone. It also can drive grease into the bone. Don't let bleach anywhere near it, same for washing soda. It will make the bone brittle and chalky.

After it is clean put it into soapy water back on the burner for a couple hours min. I normally do a week at 110 but that is a bit of overkill for whitetail. If you don't degrease you will have some yellowing in a couple of years.

Whiten with peroxide from a beauty supply place. Go easy with it. I don't like it to be too white, I like bone color. You can always bleach more, can't really take it back. If you want something besides standard white there are several interesting stains out there. The potassium permanganate and old english dark wood polish are my favorites.

The skull on the right was done with old english.