What is this about a new technique for cleaning skeletons using hydrogen peroxide?
A. I haven’t done much more experimentation with it after my first burst of enthusiasm. I had good luck with it on a few things and then got over confident and ruined a series of small skeletons (I was trying to get a vole skeleton to come out fully articulated). I think it can be done this way but the timing has to be just right. There is a brief write-up about this method in the Small Mammals Manual, and a more complete write-up in the Bone Builder’s Notebook. Essentially, small skeletons (or sections of skeletons) are soaked in ammonia for a week or so, and then in 15% hydrogen peroxide for a couple weeks, then in a fresh batch of 15% hydrogen peroxide. If the timing and the concentrations are right, it is possible to get a fully articulated skeleton out of the solution with no obnoxious smells in the process. —–It is also easy to get a skeleton that is totally disarticulated with severe bone damage.
