Tanning furs in warm to hot weather

How do you go about tanning your furs when the weather starts getting warm. In the winter, I have no worries of having my furs salting out in the shed for the 1-2 weeks as for the most part it stays pretty cool. I'm worried that when I start tanning in the spring and summer that I may have some problem with the heat. How do you salt your furs in the summer time and avoid the heat from effecting the hides? Thanks

You could throw them in the freezer and let them accumulate till you have plenty to tan in the winter. You could also start pickling and tanning them right away. You only need to salt them while the blood and fluids drain for about a day so bacteria doesn't grow on them. A nice acid pickle starting the next day will keep the bacteria from growing. Just make sure to keep the hides from settling in one position too long so the pickle can flow over every surface. Hidden pockets and folds allow bacteria to grow protected from the acid.

If you salt the furs let drain, shake old salt out after a day and resalt you should not have any problems. After the second salting let them air dry and/or put a fan on them to help the drying process. They should keep indefinitely until you're ready to tan. If you decide to go ahead with pickle, you should also check the ph regularly to be sure it remains at 2.0 or lower. If the ph is maintained, and as mentioned, stirred on occasion a hide can remain in the pickle for a long time also. I've kept a deer hide in pickle for 6 months, and tanned it afterward with no problems of hair slippage, etc.

Lastfling, what pickling recipe did you use, please? Was that the first pickling before fleshing, or the second pickling after fleshing? And when you say "tanned it afterward" are you referring to the processing (stretching, etc.)?

Heat isn't really a problem if you get started on them right away. Cold is a problem. I can't tan here Nov to Feb and have to just throw them in the freezer or salt inside. Everything freezes. I've been waiting for hot weather to start my tanning.

AnnClaire - the recipe I use is a fairly standard one. I use a product called Safety Acid that is mixed with a brine composed of 1lb salt to 1 gal water. Safety Acid (a product by Bruce Rittel) is added (approx 1/8 oz per gal) to bring the solution to a ph of 2.0 or lower. I usually wind up around 1.5. The salted hides (they don't necessarily have to be, and can be fresh or/thawed frozen)are then added being sure they are completely covered and stay covered by the solution. The ph is checked, normally twice a day. If fresh, no salted hides are added this is particularly important as the ph will tend to spike and more acid will need to be added (it doesn't take much to lower it back down). The ph will normally stabilize after a time and the hides can remain in this pickle solution for quite a long time. A mold may form on top of the solution, but as long as the ph is maintained the pickle is still good. As far as fleshing, a green hide can be rough fleshed (removal of all chunks of meat, membrane, etc) prior to putting in the pickle. The pickle will tend to plump the hide up after which it can be removed (deer normally 3 days) and final fleshed at which point it's returned to the pickle. I use a brush on synthetic tan which is applied after the pickle process. The hide is removed, washed, damp dried and the tan brushed on. The hide is rolled up, skin side in, and allowed to sit for 24 hours. It would be after this point that the breaking process and addition of tanning oil would begin if wanting a soft hide. Rabbit should be easy to get to a soft state with working, stretching etc. as it dries. Deer size would be quite a few degrees harder for a soft hide, as this process is intended more towards taxidermy where the hide ultimately dries hard and hide is tanned for preservation. Hope this helps. As you might have deduced, I had some taxidermy training in the past.

Lastfling,

Thanks for the detailed info. I have yet to tan ... salt dried years ago, but will be pickling the scrumptious pelts I am getting from my Satin x EA meat crosses

As a relative newby to the preservation process, I was going to try the alum recipe first as the least dangerous :lol: and easiest to dispose of afterwards.

I was under the impression that ambient temperature had more of an impact that what Akane indicated. It would certainly be better for me if I could pickle during the summer rather than the winter At the moment, I only have 8 small pelts in the freezer so it won't be a great loss if I make a mistake/screw it up royally.

I will also be pickling outdoors where the temps are in the mid80s and on the rise.<br /><br />__________ Tue May 15, 2012 11:19 pm __________<br /><br />

akane":388wqpok said:

Heat isn't really a problem if you get started on them right away. Cold is a problem. I can't tan here Nov to Feb and have to just throw them in the freezer or salt inside. Everything freezes. I've been waiting for hot weather to start my tanning.

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Hi Akane,

What solution do you use to tan?

Do you find that high summer temps have an impact on the pickling solution/pickling time?

What breed of rabbits are you tanning the pelts from? I am crossing my Satin doe with my EA buck and the kits have about an inch long fur that is so silky and soft. I am most concerned with maintaining the texture and hand of the fur after processing. Luckily, most of these pelts are white

AnnClaire - Glad I could be of some help. The only issue I've heard of in regards to temperatures is in cold weather where you possibly stand the chance of the salt coming out of solution in the pickle. I've never had a problem with that happening. Also, the Safety Acid I use breaks down into a fertilizer. I believe salt, whether in a pickle or for drying is more of a disposal issue than the pickle acid. The deer like their salt licks though.