![]() ![]() You’ll want to use litmus paper to test the water to ensure it’s correct. A pickle is an extremely acidic environment with a pH of 1.5 to 2.0. Your pelt will stay submerged in this solution right up until the day of tanning. Step 3: Pickle BathĪ pickle bath is no more than a clean, 5-gallon bucket half filled with tap water, citric acid, pickling salt and a fur-safe degreaser. If it’s hot out, the bacteria multiples exponentially faster than when the temps are cold. You can’t reverse the effects of decomposition, so it’s important to skin and process the fur immediately. If I notice this at any stage prior to tanning, I pitch the pelt in the trash. The hair literally slips out of the skin. This can happen in an isolated location or across the entire pelt. One of the first signs of a bacterial explosion, a.k.a., decomposition, is hair slippage. Your job is to freeze time shortly after the animal is harvested. This is the natural decomposition process. When an animal dies, bacteria in its gut and on its body begin to rapidly multiply and breakdown the tissues. A professionally tanned pelt will last decades if cared for properly.Īs soon as the animal is dispatched, a stopwatch begins. If done properly, the skin is turned into leather with the fur firmly attached to the skin. Tanning is a method of preserving animal skin. If you cut too fast you won’t preserve the thin skin around the eyes and ears. Take extra time around the head, especially the ear, eyes and nose. If large enough, you’ll have to stitch it together before tanning. Go slow so you don’t knick the skin and cut a hole in it. Pull down what you can and use a sharp knife to cut away the carcass from the pelt. It’s like turning a sock inside out.īonus Tip: take your time working the pelt off. Then you simply work the pelt off the carcass all the way to the tip of the nose. Run down to and around the anus and up the other side to the opposite ankle. You can see the physical differences in the fur at this intersection. Then you run your knife down the inside of the hind leg, where the bottom and side furs converge. Instead of splitting the fur down the belly section, you start at the two hind feet and cut through the skin all the way around each ankle. The finished product resembles the living critter. ![]() A cased pelt has an enhanced natural look and preserves the entire pelt - with face and nose completely intact. The finished product is always a soft, supple pelt that is a true trophy.īelow is the step-by-step recipe to produce your own professionally tanned pelts. I’ve tanned a dozen different pelts using the methods and products from TruBond - including coyotes, red and gray fox, raccoon and opossum. ![]() The solutions are safe to use and produce the best tanned fur I’ve ever accomplished. Several years ago I came across a tanning kit made by TruBond Taxidermy. This method takes some serious elbow grease to obtain soft fur. The end results were always the same: I had to break the tanned fur over a rope or board or chair back to make it soft. I’ve also used other tanning products on the market to tan raccoon hides, too. The finished product is a soft, supple pelt that can be hung on the wall or used to make a coat, hat, comforter, etc.Ī decade ago, I used home-made recipes that sometimes called for turpentine. This method follows step-by-step proven methods used by taxidermists around the world. There are plenty of home recipes online, traditional brain tanning methods and professionally tanned fur. There are a number of ways to tan a pelt. ![]()
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