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curing hides

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How are fresh hides cured? Have heard to use borax, and have also heard that you soak the hides in salt to bring out all the moisture, then oil it down with mineral oil once dried to keep supple. Any suggestions? Gonna be getting quite a few here real soon due to hunting season goin on. Thnx

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I scrape as much fat off as I can, soak in salt and alum mix to get as much blood as I can out.

 

Then I use a pack formula (Leidreichter's tanning kit) which is a solution to get all the natural fats and stuff out of it, then it includes a synthetic type oil to rub in and it softens up the hide nicely.

 

Other ways is just to salt it and dry it if you jsut want some hair off it, but the kit I use makes a really nice soft skin that will last forever.

 

Chris

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My best advice is to google it.

 

Also I think Cabela's, Bass Pro etc.. carry kits for tanning.

 

I have preserved a couple of squirrel and deer tails with borax but never tried an entire hide

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I scrape as much fat off as I can, soak in salt and alum mix to get as much blood as I can out.

 

Chris, is this mixed with water?

 

Then I use a pack formula (Leidreichter's tanning kit) which is a solution to get all the natural fats and stuff out of it, then it includes a synthetic type oil to rub in and it softens up the hide nicely.

 

That sounds really nice and a step up from salt and borax. I googled for Leidreichter's tanning kit but came up with nothing. Where do you get your supplies? I would like to try this.

 

Thanks!

 

Ray

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You don't need to go to the bother of soft tanning it unless you plan on wearing it.

 

All I ever use is a mix of 1\3rd coarse salt, to dehydrate, 1\3rd 20 Mule Team borax for scent, & 1\3rd crushed moth balls or moth flakes to keep the bugs out.

 

Here are three buck tails I did this weekend. Total cost about 59 cents. They will keep forever.

 

IPB Image

 

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Hi Ray - yeah, forgot to menition, a couple of handfuls of each in a big bucket of water.

 

Ray I'll try to find a link for you, if not I can send it.

 

Streamside - you are right, if you just want to keep the hide and not use it, just scrape and salt it, most will keep a long time but are no good if you want them soft - my way was for a soft hide for a rug, bedspread, clothing, etc.

 

Ray, here's a link might be of help, scan down towards the end and there is a fair amount of info on tanning...

 

http://www.shoal.net.au/~hunters/training/module2.html

 

I'll keep trying to find something more specific.

 

Or you might try something like this, and buy local, it looks similar to Leidreiters:

 

http://www.cabelas.com/spod-1/0006573.shtml

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I think the home recipe is with some sort of boiled wattle bark... which is tannic acid I think. Otherwise teh Leidreiters stuff is about what everybody uses, in fact I have never seen anything else here. Or you just salt and dry and break the skins soft by folding, depends what you need them for. Sheepskin is a lot harder.

 

Chris

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Thank's Chris. I thought they might use a native bark of some kind. I've also heard they use a brown tanic leaf compost. Sumac leaves I think.

 

 

This is all the information I could find on it.

 

 

Vegetable Tanning

 

Vegetable tanning leather produces stiffer result that is still flexible but better suited for sturdier products such as belts and luggage. Hides are placed on frames and hung in vats of tannin, which is where ‘tanning’ got its name.

 

Tannin is a natural product found in certain parts of trees such as chestnut, oak, and hemlock, using the bark, wood, leaves, and fruit. This process involves the skins being moved through a series of vats. The first vat will have a weaker solution of tannin than the final vat.

 

 

 

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You'd have to be keen, it'd be a lot of work.

 

RAy, Iv'e been going some searching, and find that Leidreiter is apparently no longer in business. I have some of the stuff here at home, but did not find it easy to get last time I shopped for it. There was a web reference to a replacement product from over your side of the ditch:

 

http://rittelsupplies.net/

 

Hope this helps, pm me if you would like further info and I am happy to obllige.

 

Chris

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Here in the southeast of US, white oak, cypress and willow were commonly used to get the tannin. The only problem with tannin is that it gives the everything a tan color as well. Almost any mild acid will work, though. For small skins I use alum, which is colorless, but getting harder to find. I do have some deer tails that I left practically rawhide, but tanned is much nicer to handle and work with.

 

 

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I have a couple of buddies who are taxidermists, they bith recomended this to me when I decided to do this a couple of years ago

 

Van Dykes- tanning kit- lutan F

 

the instructions were good, I screwed something up and it came out stiff, but it wa entirely my fault

 

I thnk the only other thing you need is about lbs of course salt

 

Pauly

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Here in the southeast of US, white oak, cypress and willow were commonly used to get the tannin. The only problem with tannin is that it gives the everything a tan color as well. Almost any mild acid will work, though. For small skins I use alum, which is colorless, but getting harder to find. I do have some deer tails that I left practically rawhide, but tanned is much nicer to handle and work with.

 

 

When you are talkng about alum, do you mean the same stuff they use in pickling to make the pickles crisp?

 

 

 

http://www.foodsubs.com/Misc.html

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Yup, the same. It seems that few people around here make pickles anymore, so the grocery stores have quit carrying it. It should be readily available and cheap in most markets....

 

...oh yeah, one more thing, make sure the salt you use is NON-iodized. Iodine does nasty things to pelts.

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well hopefully this new bunny I found in the road, did I mention hit :o will last until fri. Thurs is realllly busy for me. I'm gonna try the salt curing method first. It seems the most simple. If it works good, I'll move to the borax next. Now this alum, it can be found in grocery stores? Never heard of it before.

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