Anyone use a tumble drier?

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GBov

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For pelt breaking that is :lol:

Someone told me that if you disconect the turn off timer and the heat coils, throw in a couple of old tennis shoes and your hides and let it go for a couple of days they come out soft and supple.
 
Mary Ann's Rabbitry":3dfst00h said:
Yes,, i have heard that same thing... but i will never do that to my dryer...And besides you dont need to. They come out very nice when they are dry. Take a brush to them.. Done.
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Its not to make a nice fluffy fur but to actually break the hide itself. Instead of all the work of stretching and pulling it just tumbles with the heavy rubber shoes and they bash the hide as they tumble.
 
I haven't hear of using the tumble setting to actually break the hides completely but I have heard of using the air dry setting and throwing in some golf balls or shoes after the hides have been fairly broken to do the rest of the job. I've never tried this but they say this works well.
 
Sounds like a huge waste of money for the electrical bill and if you don't know what you're doing when disconnecting things, a freshly broken dryer...I wouldn't try it.
 
I just stretch my hides a few times as they dry. You learn to feel when it's the right time to do the final stretch, not to wet or too dry, and I just stretch mine by hand and lay them out. If I miss it I put them back in the bucket and soak them again.
 
skysthelimit":1a78ui5i said:
I just stretch my hides a few times as they dry. You learn to feel when it's the right time to do the final stretch, not to wet or too dry, and I just stretch mine by hand and lay them out. If I miss it I put them back in the bucket and soak them again.
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I have done rather a lot of mouse skins (long story :lol: ) and a few snake skins so I can do it but my hands tend to cramp so I was trying to find an easier way to do it.
 
i never do it in one sitting. The pelts are in my bathroom, so periodically, as they are laying across the tub, I wander into the bath room and stretch them. A little at time, untill they are fully dry and stretched.
 
skysthelimit":1yu3fmib said:
i never do it in one sitting. The pelts are in my bathroom, so periodically, as they are laying across the tub, I wander into the bath room and stretch them. A little at time, untill they are fully dry and stretched.
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Do you do a little bit of the pelt at a time or just pull from opposite sides?
 
Always from the center out, to keep the thinner belly skin edges from ripping, and to keep it flat and even. The center is the back, and it's usually the thickest part of the hide, and will get the hardest when the pelt begins to dry.
 
I've heard people just put it on tumble with no heat when they were almost dry until they were dry but never saw in person. Seems like a lot of electricity cost. I can't wait to get more pelts so I.can do my first tan. I just don't want to mess it up because I have 4 amazing pelts. So soft and plush!
 
GBov":3p71z1tg said:
I have done rather a lot of mouse skins (long story :lol: ) and a few snake skins so I can do it but my hands tend to cramp so I was trying to find an easier way to do it.
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I wanted to "practice" on the rat I had in my freezer. When I bought a ball python I got a free baggy of mixed frozen rats, this one is way too big for any of my snakes to eat. I did chop a few of them up for my monitor...

If you did want to go that way I'd look for an old dryer, but then you would have to switch out the good dryer for the old one. They need a special plug in right? I have an old squeeky dryer here, but I think I'll haul it to the dump :)
 
I'd have to agree it seems if you wanted to use it specifically for breaking the skins the cost vs convenience wouldn't be worth it.
 
mystang89":3vk195tm said:
I'd have to agree it seems if you wanted to use it specifically for breaking the skins the cost vs convenience wouldn't be worth it.
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The person who told me about it said they could do two or three dozen rabbit sized pelts at a time so it was a savings on time. Said it took about two or three days for the hides to come out soft and flexible.

But as their information is a bit suspect I wanted to check it out here.
 
I suppose if you had a large bundle to do maybe that might be worth it but, if I'm reading correctly, they are leaving the dryer running non stop for 2 or 3 days or did I read it wrong?
 
mystang89":2ya88abp said:
I suppose if you had a large bundle to do maybe that might be worth it but, if I'm reading correctly, they are leaving the dryer running non stop for 2 or 3 days or did I read it wrong?
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That is what they said. Disconnect the timer adn the heat part and leave it to run, just like a large rock tumbler-polisher.
 

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