Bark Tanning Rabbit Hide Troubleshooting

[Sandezy1517]

Hello,

I'm fairly new to tanning in general and had some quesitons about the most reacent attempt to bark tan a rabbit hide. The hide was 3 days off the rabbit and kept in the freezer until I was ready. I fleshed the hide with a butterknife until there wasn't any slimy membrane on the skin side. I boiled Pondarosa Pine bark and placed the hide in the solution after it had cooled. I pulled it out every day to squeeze it and observe it. It slowly dyed the skin-side a nice brown and the hair was staying in. I changed the solution halfway through and tried my best to keep in within the 40-70 degree temp. I pulled it out of the solution this morning (7th day) to squeeze it and see if it was ready to come out. I squeezed it and the hair on the hide began to come out in patches all over the hide and the hair-side skin was slimy and white. Something similar happened to an elk hide I tried Alum on. Is there a flaw in the process I'm using to bark tan? What would cause the hair to fall out after 7 days in the bark solution? What can I do to keep the hair on the hide?

Thank you for your help

 

[Windermere]

What kind of water are you using to make your solution? City or municipal? Well? Reverse osmosis? It could be something in your water since it happened with two different tanning methods.

 

[Sandezy1517]

What kind of water are you using to make your solution? City or municipal? Well? Reverse osmosis? It could be something in your water since it happened with two different tanning methods

I used water from the tap, would distilled water be better?

 

[Windermere]

Yes, I would try that first. Tap water contains a lot of chemicals that may not be dissipated by boiling. If it still occurs after switching water supply, then we can look into other causes.