#what gets out grease stains the best? i usually soak in dawn dish soap but i dont have any rn

[housecow]

all my cute shirts have stains on the chest because it’s impossible to not be a messy eater w like a mile of cleavage between me and the plate 😭😭😭

[shadyufo]

Hey, is it possible for you to share your bone cleaning procedure? Yours always seem to come out super bright! It's ok if it's a trade secret, love from the UK!

Thank you for the kind words, Anon! And I’m always glad to share what I know! I’ve made a ton of mistakes over the last 20+ years I’ve been processing bones so if I can share any knowledge I’ve gained to help others from making those same mistakes then I’m happy to do so. 

Bone cleaning can be broken down into three fairly basic stages: remove the flesh, remove the grease, and then whiten. That’s pretty much it. Now there are a lot of variations to all of these steps but here’s what I usually do:

To remove the flesh: If the specimen is fairly fresh then I’ll usually skin it and deflesh it (cut away as much meat as possible such as the organs, tongue, eyes, brains, and major muscle groups). This isn’t totally necessary and can be skipped if you don’t want to mess with the mess but it does speed the cleaning process up a bit and prevents you from having to sort through fur and hair to collect bones down the line. But I’ve skipped skinning and defleshing plenty of times over the years with no ill results.

Next choose your method of decay. You can use dermestid beetles, macerate in warm water, nature clean, etc. Just be sure to NEVER BOIL and I generally advise against simmering too because there’s a very fine line between cleaning and damaging bones there. I used to have beetles and they are great, especially for smaller specimens but nowadays I personally prefer maceration or nature cleaning. 

Maceration is pretty simple—put the specimen in a bucket of heated water (85-110 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal and can be achieved with a fish tank heater or bucket heater), put a lid on the bucket, and wait at least a couple of weeks. It’s gonna smell and it’s gonna smell bad when you open that bucket up but it’s a really good method for cleaning bones. The maceration process is done when all of the tissue has rotted off the bones. Don’t change the water during this process or you’ll lose your bacteria colony (responsible for decomp) and they’ll have to start all over again.

Nature cleaning can be done several different ways. You can use old wire animal cages or build your own cage/box, place the specimen in that, then let nature takes its course and rot the specimen down to bones for you. You can also put the specimen in a plastic trash bag with some holes poked in it, put it under a bucket or other container, weigh it down so no passing scavengers will tip it over and steal your specimen, then again wait for nature to do its thing. You can also bury a specimen in a flower pot or even in a container filled with horse manure to let it rot. I haven’t done it in a while but the horse manure method was pretty cool. Whatever nature cleaning method you choose just make sure to cover or secure your specimen well enough to keep scavengers from stealing it. 

Now for degreasing! I usually just use Dawn dish soap (any good grease-cutting soap will work) and hot water (85-115 degrees Fahrenheit). Change the water as it becomes cloudy or develops a film on the surface and keep it up until the water starts staying clear. Then let the skull dry and see if you notice any smells or stains. If so, continue degreasing. If not, on to whitening. That’s pretty much it. Some people prefer to use ammonia to degrease with but I’ve always been happy with the hot, soapy water process myself.

Whitening! I just use 3% hydrogen peroxide to whiten skulls. NEVER USE CHLORINE BLEACH on bones—hydrogen peroxide only. Chlorine bleach will eat away at the bone until it becomes brittle, flaky, and discolored. Even after you take the bone out of the bleach it will still continue to degrade it. Peroxide is the way to go. Soak the skulls in it an open container out in direct sunlight. Make sure they are totally submerged in the peroxide. You can water the peroxide down to make it go further if you want. Being exposed to air and sunlight degrades the peroxide faster but I’ve always found that the added whitening boost you get from the sun is worth the trade-off and skulls do get whiter, faster this way in my experience.

That’s pretty much it! You can experiment around and see what method works best for you but hopefully this will give you some good ideas to start. Best of luck and happy collecting! :)

[novipedia]

How To Get Rid Of Blue Hair 42

Vitamin c is another remedy when we need to learn how to get semi permanent hair dye out fast without ruining the locks. Vitamin c can also be a little healthier for your hair, as it doesn’t dry out the cuticles the way baking soda might.

How to get rid of green tint in my blue hair?! HELP PLEASE

Dishwashing liquid detergent is an acidic substance that cleans your dishes by removing grease and heavy oils.

How to get rid of blue hair. Gently rub the baby oil into the blu tack. If you feel like purple shampoo leaves your hair overly dry, consider using it less often or opt for a toning mask instead. Did this for three days.

Did this for three days. This is why every package of blue hair dye i have seen (and i have seen a lot) recommend wearing old or already stained clothing when you. Coconut oil overnight soak and then vitamin c shampoo scrubbing with some added dawn dishsoap.

You need to apply it and then wash your hair for around 20 minutes. How to get blu tack out of hair. What you can do is use a little pastel red daily conditioner to help cancel out the green tones and some pastel orange daily conditioner to tone out any blue strands.when applying a green shampoo or hair mask like dark envy, suggests george, proceed with caution.when trying to contradict an unwanted color, you want to look opposite on the color scale from the color.

Since i was using an ashy toner with a blue base, my hair grabbed onto the blue and some green tones. Hi, i have been colouring my hair for nearly two decades. The magic solution to remove blu tack from hair is baby oil!

How do you get rid of blue hair without bleach? Similar to the baking soda remedy, adding vitamin c to your shampoo can be a great way to get rid of unwanted blue pigments. Make the water as warm as you can stand it.

The best color to dye over blue hair. Its chemical composition also makes it remarkably effective at removing blue hair tints. Use warm water to wet your hair.

I had found that using a mixture of 3 lemons and 1/4 of conditioner would help remove the toner. Pour a generous amount of baby oil on the offending blu tack. Bleach increases hair porosity and dryness, so proper deep conditioning is a must both before and after a blonding service.

The color wheel is a helpful tool when you’re looking to cancel out red tones in your hair. Wash off using warm water. Which means that my hair was already so light, only the underlying tones from the toner were sticking to my hair.

Make sure you cover the entire head and coat all of your hair right up to the ends with shampoo. To remove blue hair dye wash your hair thoroughly with a clarifying shampoo of your choice. Rinse your hair to wet it thoroughly.

For this method, do the following. In addition, dish soap has cleansing agents that help to. There are different ways to attempt this depending on if the blue dye is permanent or temporary hair color.

If the color is temporary, though, there. How to get toner out of hair; Another way of getting rid of blue hair dye is using household products.

When it comes to defining what shade is the optimal one to cover blue, be sure that brown dye over blue hair, as well as brunette and dark red colors will be the ideal solutions. Oftentimes, the only way to get rid of dramatic colors is to bleach the hair or dye over it with help from a salon or special shampoos. It usually requires lots of bleaching or hot water and intense scrubbing, which ruins clothes.

How to get rid of blue semi permanent hair dye quickly. This type of shampoo contains blue pigment to counteract the orange pigment in your hair and prevent brassy tones. Color reducers essentially shrink the molecules of color in your hair which makes them easily washable.

Choose a dark brown to remove the color quickly. If green shampoo isn’t effective enough, other colors can help neutralize brassy tones like purple and blue. Removing blue hair dye can be a tricky process that requires care and caution to be executed properly.

Vitamin c shampoo scrubbing with some added dawn dishsoap. Also, you can try out any shade that includes orange notes in it, for instance, copper. Wash hair as usual to get rid of the oil.

Coconut oil in hair for a few days. Warm water opens up hair follicles and cuticles making them more receptive to being stripped of the dye. On the one hand, applying dish soap to your hair for removing the blue tint can work pretty well since the soap works similarly to clarifying shampoo, and the application process is also the same.

Experts often recommend using blue toning shampoo (usually blue or purple shampoo) to remove brassy tones from brown hair. Rinse out the hair and then apply a deep conditioner. It is a good idea to leave the shampoo in for a few minutes to really dissolve the blue dye.

Pravana the perfect blonde purple toning masque is a popular choice that provides amazing results. As the blu tack starts to loosen you can gently comb it out. In today's video i try out the malibu ddl to remove the left of blue hair dye from using the morrocanoil color depositing mask!

[unofficialvulturecultureproblems]

hiya! i'm really curious how to get into vc? i've always been intrigued even before i knew what it was (in 3rd grade i wanted to keep a rabbit that died in our garden's skull and the skull from a roadkill skunk). but i just don't know where to start? do i just go pluck some roadkill from the road? honestly just some links or maybe phrases to search to get me started would be nice tbh. thanks for running this blog! it's really cool man

Welcome to the community! I’m glad you like our blog =)

To make things easy, click here to access the Vulture Culture Masterpost, which has different links for animal processing methods and tutorials. This post should have all the information you’ll need to get started with processing animal parts. And here’s a nice page about roadkill collection alone.

I’m also going to add in another link:This is Lupa Greenwolf’s website on animal parts laws, which has a good summary of different laws but isn’t listed on the Masterpost.

Before you get started doing much of anything I’d first recommend that you brush up on your laws. While it may be a pain, look up your local laws. It’s always easier to keep things legal instead of trying to go through hoops and hope you don’t get caught.

Also, feel free to ask around in the community if you ever need any help! Tumblr has a very active Vulture Culture community and many of us would be glad to assist fellow Vultures if we’re able. I’ve also noticed there’s several VC groups on Facebook, and some Vultures like to hang out on Instagram.

Another thing I’d like to mention is that if roadkill doesn’t work out for you, whether it be because of laws or you just find out it’s not your cup of tea, there’s always other ways to obtain animal parts. Finding stuff in the woods, getting in contact with hunters/trappers, getting “ins” with pet breeders/pet stores/farmers/butchers, buying things in thrift stores/oddity shops/trade stores/fur dealers/flea markets/garage sales, or even buying online whether it’s from a fellow Vulture or bigger websites like Moscow Hide & Fur or even eBay. Find what works best for you.

Finally, here’s some common phrases you might want to know:

Bone Phrases:

Maceration: A method of processing bones, where you soak them in plain water.

Degreasing: The process of removing grease from bones. This is done after cleaning, but before bleaching. Common methods include soaking bones in water with plain Dawn dish soap and changing the water until it becomes clear, or for tougher jobs you can use ammonia or even acetone.

Bleaching: NOT referring to actual bleach! Bleaching is using hydrogen peroxide in order to whiten and sanitize bones after they have been cleaned and degreased.Actual bleach will set in grease, and eventually cause your bones to become brittle and flake or otherwise turn to powder.

Nature Cleaned: Refers to bones that were found “clean”, as in they were free or mostly free of meat and skin.

Boiling: DO NOT BOIL BONES! If someone who knows better says their bones are boiled, it’s likely that they actually mean “simmered”. Simmering bones is just what it sounds like, and has to be done carefully to avoid cooking the fat into the bones.

Grease Spots: These are unsightly (and sometimes smelly) dark or yellowish spots on bones that were not properly or thoroughly degreased. Bones can usually be degreased again without any problem. If a skull was bleached with actual bleach it’s not recommended to attempt to degrease them, as they may disintegrate more quickly if submerged in water.

Articulation: Putting a skeleton back together after cleaning.

Staining: The act of coloring bones using different dying agents.

Replica: As it implies, this is not a real skull/bone, it is an artificial fake, usually made from some form of resin.

Pelt Phrases:

Green/Raw: This means a pelt that is not tanned, and likely not processed in any way. An untanned pelt will eventually decompose, so if you want to keep a pelt you will need to tan it.

Fleshing: Fleshing is the process of scraping or otherwise removing any extra meat or membrane from a pelt in preparation to have it tanned. This step, while difficult, is necessary in order to have a tan penetrate the skin. If a pelt is fleshed, that means someone has already done this step.

Salted: A pelt that is salted is also not tanned, but is dried. This also applies to dried pieces such as mummified bodies or dried wings or other parts. Usually done after fleshing a pelt, salting will temporarily preserve a pelt so that it may be transported or stored until it can be tanned. It’s recommended to use non-iodized salt for this process. Borax can also be used, and is good for deterring bugs, but it tends to have bad reactions with tanning agents. Borax can be good to use for salting bird wings, feet, or other things that you cannot tan.

Rehydrating: This refers to wetting a pelt, usually for the purpose of shaping it or tanning it (if not already tanned). Can be done with a salted or tanned pelt. Taxidermists and crafters commonly rehydrate pelts or parts of pelts to work with them. Not recommended to do multiple times, as it can weaken the leather.

Slipping/Slipped: This refers to patches where fur comes out of the pelt, usually during or after tanning (though slipping can happen before that). Typically the result of improper preservation, and more common to happen with animals who were left to sit and rot before being either processed or frozen whole.

Pickle/Pickling: Part of the tanning process, this step helps kill bacteria left in the hide. Not referring to what you can do with a cucumber.

Blown Ear: This means the ear is ripped, which can happen when the ears are being turned. Not desirable for taxidermy.

Turned Ears/Split Lips: If a pelt has its ears turned and lips split, that usually means the pelt in general has been prepped for taxidermy. Turning ears refers to removing the ear cartilage, while splitting lips means separating the inner lip skin so there is enough skin left for tucking. Usually you’ll also want the nose cartilage removed, and for the inner eyelids to be in tact.

Craft Quality: This means a pelt is suitable for crafts, but is not suitable for taxidermy, and possibly too “unsightly” for displaying on its own. Usually for pieces such as faces or paws, or for pelts with a lot of slips or holes.

Wallhanger: Referring to a pelt that is good for display. Usually also good for crafting with, however it’s best to ask to ensure the leather isn’t too weak.

Mountable: A pelt that should be suitable for taxidermy. This means that the pelt is complete, holes are minimal, there is no slipping or very little slipping, the leather is strong, and preferably it is “taxidermy prepped” (ears turned, lips split, etc.).

I think between this list and the Masterpost you should have enough information for a good start! I hope this isn’t too much all at once, or too basic and stuff you already knew. If you have any questions feel free to send us another message, or ask around in the community in general.

[shadyufo]

Hi! So two years ago I found a decomposing deer and left it be bc I got chased by a bird lol. Well I JUST found the skeleton with so many bones. I don’t know what I need to do to sanitize the bones. They have no flesh due to them being in the woods for years. I just don’t want any bacteria or dangerous stuff on the bones. I’m sooooo new to this and this is my first real find. Any help ? Also just found your blog and I love it :) ❣️

Hi Anon! Thanks for the kind words and congrats on the cool find!

Generally speaking, so long as you wash your hands thoroughly after handling the dead thing and keep any ick from getting into any open wounds or your eyes or mouth* then you don’t have to worry too much about getting sick from touching a dead animal or its remains. Wearing gloves when handling carcasses and a respirator if there is any chance of inhaling hair or bone dust are good rules to follow as well. 

Do watch out for stowaways in old, nature-cleaned bones though. I’ve found countless wasp nests and venomous spiders hiding inside old bones. A friend of mine who was hauling a cow skull out of a farm’s bone pit and had it strapped to his backpack ended up getting stung all over his head and neck by the colony of wasps that was hiding inside the brain case. So that’s definitely something to be aware of!

Now for cleaning! If the bones are free of any hide or tissue then I’d just give them a scrub in some warm, soapy water. Dawn dish soap is great and you can use an old toothbrush or other scrubber brush to remove any dirt or debris. Go easy on them at least at first—they may be a bit fragile from sitting out in the elements for that long. 

After that you can fill a container with 3% hydrogen peroxide (sold in a brown bottle at pretty much any drug or grocery store) and submerge the bones in that. You can water the peroxide down a bit to make it go further if you need to. Don’t cover the container and keep it out in direct sunlight for best results. The peroxide will whiten the bones, sanitize them, and also bubble out any remaining dirt or debris. Let them soak for at least a day or more if you want them whiter. Then let them dry and you’ll be good to go!

Usually bones that have been out in nature for that long don’t need degreasing but if you happen to notice any odor or discolored areas beginning to appear on the bone then you can always go back and degrease later. To degrease you let the bones soak in hot, soapy water. Dawn dish soap or any other good grease-cutting soap will work well and keep the water around 85-110 degrees Fahrenheit (which can be achieved with a fish tank heater or bucket heater). Change the water as it becomes cloudy or develops a film on the surface. Once the water starts staying clear then you can let them dry, check for stains or odors, continue degreasing if they appear or move on to whitening with peroxide if not.

Hope that helps get you started, Anon! Best of luck!

*this is still totally survivable as I have had maceration soup splash in my mouth and eyes on multiple occasions but it’s definitely an experience I highly recommend avoiding if at all possible lol

[shadyufo]

Hi! I’m new to vulture culture, and am a bit worried I’m not cleaning my bones enough. I only pick up ones that no longer have any flesh on them, and then boil them for a few hours to get off any remaining gristle, etc. then I scrub them in a hydrogen peroxide/water bath with a toothbrush. Am I doing anything wrong? I’ve seen multiple users reference “de-greasing,” or something like that. Is that something I’m not doing, and should be worried about? Thanks!

Hi there! Welcome to the Vulture Culture Community!

There are many different ways to clean bones and many different opinions on which ones are the best. Honestly you just have to do it yourself a while and find what works best for you and sometimes it’ll be a combination of different methods. Below in this long, rambling reply I’m going to give a basic rundown of how I typically clean dead things. Skip a few paragraphs if you want to jump straight to degreasing but I felt this all might be a more comprehensive answer to your question.

When I find a fresh dead thing (or one with any tissue remaining on it) I’ll either macerate it (put it in a covered bucket with warm water to let the tissue rot off) or let nature clean it. In the woods on my property I have a spot with a few old wire animal cages where I’ll put carcasses to let nature clean them. Then I’ll collect the bones, give them a scrub, and then degrease and whiten them. If I macerate them it’s the same process after the tissue has rotted off—degrease, then whiten. 

When you find bones in nature a lot of the time degreasing isn’t necessary. Often they have been decomposing for a while and the fat inside/around the bone that turns to grease has already decayed away. So if you find a bone in nature that is free of any tissue and has no smell or staining on it I’d just give it a quick scrub in some warm, soapy water then let it soak in an open container of 3% hydrogen peroxide out in direct sunlight until it is as white as you want it to be. Keep in mind it’ll dry whiter that it appears when wet if you are aiming for a certain shade.

But, say you bring home a bone that you’ve found in nature which is mostly clean except for a little remaining tissue. I would put it in a bucket of warm water (85-110 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal and can be achieved with a fish tank heater, a bucket heater, or just by utilizing a dark colored, covered bucket and the hot summer sun) and let the tissue finish rotting off. Should take roughly a week or so, maybe less if the water is warm enough, maybe a little longer if things aren’t cooperating. If the tissue isn’t rotting at all then it may have been too desiccated and you may need a little something to kickstart the bacteria responsible for decomp. This can be achieved by adding a fresher dead thing to the bucket, some spoiled meat, a cup or two of scuzzy pond water, or even by pouring a cheap beer in. That’ll get things rotting again. Also: don’t change your maceration water. When you pour it out you are pouring out that bacteria colony you worked so hard for! Just let it all stew and rot until the tissue has decomposed off the bone then pour it out (pro tip: flower gardens love maceration water!!). Now the next step is degreasing.

Degreasing is using hot water (85 up to 115 degrees is ideal; use the same heating method as you did for maceration) and a good greasing cutting soap (dawn dish soap is perfect) to help remove grease (fat) from bones. A bone with grease in it may be discolored or have areas that look like there is a yellow/brown/red stain within the bone. They may also feel sticky or greasy to the touch or even smell bad. If you feel a bone is pretty clean and grease-free and you want to skip degreasing you can always go back and do it later if an odor or stain does develop but most bone cleaners just go ahead and degrease because it usually needs done.

When you degrease, change the water as it becomes cloudy or develops a film on the surface. This may take a while depending on how greasy the bones are. Some species like pigs, bears, raccoons, and oddly enough rabbits, are often notoriously greasy and can sometimes take months to totally degrease. Patience is definitely a virtue in the bone cleaning world.

Once the water starts staying clear take the bone out, let it dry, see if there is any foul odor or stains remaining. If so, keep degreasing. If not, move on to whitening with hydrogen peroxide as described above. 

Most importantly though, I would really advise against boiling in the future. It’s a pretty harsh method and can cause damage to bones, especially the fragile sinus bones in skulls. It can also cook grease into the bone, making it very difficult to remove later.

We all have to experiment with different methods and find what works best for our own uses. I’ve been doing this for over twenty years and I’ve made pretty much every mistake in the book but that’s just part of how you learn and find out what does work!

Hope that helps you out, Anon! Best of luck with your cleaning and collecting!