Questions about my first pelts

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TeaTimeBunnies

TeaTimeBunnies

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So I just finished..well mostly finished my first batch of pelts. My biggest concern is that the ones that are dry feel like there is still salt in the fur despite my thorough cleaning. Will the salt cause future fur slip? Should I rewash the pelts and go trough drying them again? I used shampoo to wash them with, should I use our Dawn dish soap instead from now on? For the ones with their faces still, how long does it generally takes for ears to dry? Pictures to show off my first batch of pelts. The two in the middle are almost finished drying
 

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what did you tan them with?

salt in the fur isn't unusual - just take a comb and brush it once the skin dries completely. once you break and sand the skin, taking the pelt and rubbing it fur-size on something like the edge of a door or over the back of a chair will fluff the fur up and help shake out any salt or sawdust (if you use sawdust.) if it's REALLY salty, you can rise it in water, but you may need to re-oil it afterwards, especially if you use soap (which honestly shouldn't be that necessary.) i find that i rarely need to re-rinse them, just need to beat em on something for a while lol.

as for the ears, it always takes me like a week for them to dry totally. you'll probably want to cut out some cardboard or something to clip the ears so they dry in a proper ear shape and not just a crumple :)
 
Thanks shazza. I used the Alum mix to tan/pickle them. I'm pretty happy with how well I could actually skin them and keep their faces well intact. Now I just have to learn how to not tear them all up when stretching them :lol:
All things considered though I think these came out really well for being my very first hides
 
I use the salt/alum method of tanning and I find it works out quite well. When they are finished I wash them in a light shampoo solution (I use Pert Plus if that matters) and they come out soft and smelling nice.

The main issue for me is fleshing, I just can't seem to do as good a job as I should, specially around the shoulders. I do have some that I did a few years ago and they are still holding together well and no fur slippage.
 
I had trouble with salt in my furs. The last batch I did I filled up a bucked with fresh water and swirled them really well. I repeated a few times and that seemed to fix the problem. No more salty hides for me.
 
Well done! Fantastic first job! If you have a dog, keep dogo away from them, my entire first batch of hides went down the dogs throat.
 
The tanning instructions almost always seem to forget to mention that critical step; "After tanning, rinse as many times as necessary to remove the salt from the fur." :lol:
 

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