![]() Once the skins have been neutralized, give them a quick rinse in clean water and hang them up to drain for an hour or so. ![]() Allow the skins to soak for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. To accomplish this, simply add one tablespoon of baking soda to every gallon of water it takes to cover the skin. Neutralizing brings the PH of the skins up into this range. The ideal PH for a hide to tan well is between 4, and 7. The pickle bath is very acidic, with a PH of between 1 and 2.5. ![]() Neutralizing is a simple but important step in the tanning process. Skins that haven’t been de-greased properly will stiffen up once they dry. I have found de-greasing to be one of the most important steps in the tanning process. I let my hides soak in this solution for 30-minutes, then rinse and put them back in the pickle solution overnight. I use a product called “Super Solve.” A few ounces of this stuff in a five-gallon pail of water will leave even the greasiest skins squeaky clean. Once the skins have been thoroughly scraped, they should be degreased with a mild solution of Dawn dish soap or one of the degreasing solvents made for tanneries. The tanning agent won’t penetrate this thin membrane, so it is important to remove it all. Once the skins have been in the pickle for a day or so, I take them out and remove the thin membrane and any flesh or fat that is still on the hide.Ī scraper is sufficient for most thin-skinned animals, but a wire wheel on a drill can also be used on any stubborn areas. The skins are safe as long as the PH stays below 2.5, and I have found longer pickling times beneficial for dense skins like beavers. It is a good idea to agitate them briefly each day and check the PH level. The skins should remain in the pickle bath for at least three days. The recipe above should give you a PH of no more than 2, if you get a higher reading, add more acid to bring it down. Using PH strips, you should check the PH of the pickle solution before adding skins. Use hot tap water to ensure the acid and salt dissolve properly, then let it cool to room temperature before adding skins. The recipe I use, calls for five pounds of salt, and one pound of citric acid crystals for every five gallons of water. A five-gallon pickle bath is enough to do several mink-size skins. Don’t crowd the skins too much in the pickle solution, you want to keep them submerged, and they should be agitated once or twice each day. This is a very safe acid to use and has a natural de-greasing effect that is helpful on greasy skins like beaver and otter. While there are a lot of pickling acids available, I prefer citric acid. This enables the tanning agent to fully penetrate and bond to the skin much more successfully. ![]() The pickle solution is an acidic bath that breaks down and dissolves the non-structural proteins of a hide. Once your skins are completely re-hydrated, they should go into the pickle bath immediately. You want to leave the skins in the rehydration bath until they are completely re-hydrated, but no longer. It is very important to understand that bacteria can grow in the re-hydration bath. Most salt-dried skins will re-hydrate in 6 to 8-hours, but air-dried hides can take up to 12-hours to fully re-hydrate. ![]() While some tanners add salt to their re-hydration bath, I prefer to use just plain water. The goal is to bring them back to an as-skinned state. The re-hydrating process is simply re-wetting air or salt-dried skins. I quickly learned that if I followed these five steps, soft, supple furs could be produced every time. There are five steps involved when tanning with Trubond: rehydrating the hide, pickling it, de-greasing, neutralizing, and applying the tanning oil. I really liked the soft white leather this tan produced with very little breaking. This is a true synthetic tan that is very easy to use and is even washable. Trubond is a relatively new paint-on tan that is getting rave reviews by everyone who tries it. The paint on tans appealed to me because they did not require a water bath to do the actual tanning.Įverything I read, and everyone I talked to, advised me to stay away from alum-based tans, and those containing harsh chemicals. I was surprised to learn that in addition to the submersible tans like the one Robert was using, there are also paint on tans. I decided to do some research on the different chemicals that are available to home tanners. The procedure Robert explained sounded much easier. Although I had never done any tanning of my own, I envisioned a long labor-intensive procedure that involved hours of scraping and breaking the hides by hand. ![]()
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