[Nhcoll-l] Skulls and cleaning

[Sergio Montagud]

Thank you, Simon for you recommendation. I will try this week the sodium carbonate mix for the fox skull. If not, I must to employ time scraping the skin.

Thanks again!

Sergio

De: Simon Moore <couteaufin at btinternet.com>
Fecha: martes, 4 de octubre de 2022, 12:49
Para: Sergio Montagud <sergio.montagud at gmail.com>
CC: NHCOLL-new <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Asunto: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Skulls and cleaning
Hi Sergio,

I used to use sodium carbonate (10%) in hot water, which worked quite well with a bit of scraping; try not to boil as that ‘fixes’ the flesh.  There are   other fleshing crystal products around but no-one will reveal their composition!  They are gradually deliquescent if that might give someone a clue as to their identity - they work even better.

With all good wishes, Simon

Simon Moore MIScT, RSci, FLS, ACR
Conservator of Natural Sciences and Cutlery Historian,

www.natural-history-conservation.com<http://www.natural-history-conservation.com>




> On 4 Oct 2022, at 11:21, Sergio Montagud <sergio.montagud at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> We have a series of skulls from mammals and birds obtained directly from nature and all of them maintain remains of dry skin that are very difficult to remove.
>
> We have try it with enzimatic digestion (using the Enzym Med 4 - 3%) and worked well with the bird skulls, but mammals are very strong to this mix. We can macerate them boiling in water, as usual, but it's a very complicate now in our lab and skulls aren't particularly interesting.
>
> Can anyone recommend something useful (and easy) to remove this skin in a usual protocol? Some chemical product, maybe?
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
> ********************************
> Sergio Montagud Alario
> Museu [UV] Història Natural
> Universitat de València
> ********************************
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