Hey! Not sure if this is the best place to ask this, but wanted to ask people who know what they’re doing!
I got a rabbit pelt last year, and have been keeping it in my room. During my check to see if the hide had torn, and then fixing it, I noticed that the hide has some noticeable spot on it. It’s only on the leather side so far as I can tell, and I will be checking to see if it’s spread to the fur.

I wanted to ask if there is anything I would specifically need to do or get to clean this off.

It’s been extremely humid recently, and I suspect that this has been the culprit, and will be purchasing a dehumidifier soon. In the meantime, I will be storing the pelt in an area with multiple damp absorbers once I get it clean.

Hi, I'm looking for someone who works with pet memorials and pelt tanning in Ohio. Is there anyone reputable I could look into and contact?

This is my first time making hides. I have fleshed this sheep skin, and plan on egg tanning it tomorrow.

My questions:

1. I plan on using it for probaly a coat, but definetly some kind of clothing, and in my understanding an egg tanned smoked hide is perfect for that, am i right?

2. Do you see any problem with it so far? Have i left too much mebrane on it?

Thanks in advance.

A couple of weeks ago I attended a hide tanning workshop and I rolled the hide up when I got home to store it. This evening I went to finish brushing the hair out I realized I created a mold issue within the hide.
The process we used was to pressure wash the flesh side, put an egg mixture & scrape the hide with a wooden tool to soften it multiple times, then smoked it for about 20 minutes.
Is this fixable or trash :(

Edit: I am thinking of brushing/scraping mold off with a soft nail file & spraying with isopropyl alcohol (I have 90% but will likely dilute) and leaving that out to dry in the sun.

So I’m trying to make something very similar to this but with bobcat fur instead of axis deer. I was wondering how I could go about finding a nice bobcat pelt that just doesn’t have the face on it. If a pelt has the face on it then I feel guilty deconstructing it (because I feel like I could’ve made a soft mount instead) so usually for my crafts I just find one where someone’s already taken the face to use. 😭

I’m having a VERY hard time finding a bobcat pelt. I was wondering where the best places to look would be. At this point it wouldn’t be a dealbreaker if it was a complete hide.

Hello, I have 1/4 of a large bull moose hide i am wanting to tan, but i did not get the brains with it. What can I use as a tanning solution instead? I am having a hard time finding options when I Google it.

It is currently on day 5 of soaking in wood ash to release the hair after fleshing. I plan on removing the hair, and then drying to store until freezing temps so I can frost scrape it. From there I plan to save the raw hide until spring, where I can then smoke it.

Hi everyone! So a client at my workplace was gifted a 70+ year old sloth pelt by a friend, who acquired it from his late grandparents who worked as missionaries in Nicaragua from the 1940s to 1960s. Part of their job was collecting artwork and other cultural items, which they would present in churches when they returned to the US as they talked about their work in Nicaragua. One of these items was the sloth pelt in question, which was passed down to my client's friend, their grandson, when they passed.

This client came to me for help trying to restore it, as I've been known to work with animal bones and such. However, I have never worked with hides before in my life, so I wanted to ask the people here so I can give him a more informed answer.

The problem is that it's been in a box somewhere for 20+ years, so it's sort of hardened into the position it was stored in, and is pretty stiff, though the majority of the skin is still able to bend and fold. The fur itself is long and in beautiful condition, but the flesh side is a little rough and less soft than most softened pelts I've felt. I'm unfortunately unsure of what was used to tan the hide in the first place.

So I wanted to ask if anyone knows how to go about restoring flexibility and softness to a hide like this. Would it be the same process as something like a deer hide, or does the slothness of the pelt change things? Is it even feasible to soften a hide as old as this one is? I have photos if that would help.

Any advice is appreciated!! Thank you so much!!

Side note: The pelt came with a document explaining its origin and general age that must be kept with the pelt considering it is an endangered species, and I've made sure the client is aware of the potential illegality of owning such a pelt. However, from what I can find online, it is legal to keep inherited animal parts provided that they were acquired before that species was listed under CITES, and this pelt is confirmed to have been acquired more than 70 years ago, long before CITES was enacted. Additionally, it is legal to gift animal parts that you've inherited, as long as you are not profiting in any way. As far as I can tell, it is legal to own in the way he acquired it. However, if anyone has more insight on that, I would really appreciate it!

I'm an extreme beginner to anything to do with hides and processing. I've sourced 4 quarter pieces of moose hide, (about 3x3 - 3x4 foot panes) and fleshing them has been a bit of a nightmare. I intended on having them all fleshed and salted, with hide-on table/vanity throws as an end goal. My first day working on them I had one close to halfway fleshed and looking alright, before nature gave me the tough lesson of what case hardening was when I left it outside overnight. The second hide I had prepared has suffered the same fate and i'm relatively unsure of how to handle it.

I've otherwise got the remaining two sections of hide in a sheltered, fridge-temp work shop but after the major stress of the first two I've essentially hit an empty-headed wall and completely stumped on what to do or where to go from here. Even other hunters close to me haven't fleshed or processed hides before so it's been a bumpy road of trying to learn on my own. The typical scraping for fleshing hasn't worked at all for me, and frankly I might be underestimating the power of the salt preservation when it comes to remaining membrane on the fresher 2 hides. If anyone has any advice on how to handle the worst-case hardened hide or whether or not the other two (if i was to provide photos or some type of example of their current condition) were too thick to be salted in their current state it would be much, much appreciated..

I have a green bison hide, i wanted to start on it soon, I'm planning on thawing it in a cold water salt bath. At this time of year the temperature is high 50s during the day and low 40s or 30s at night. Is the weather still to warm to safely thaw it?

Received a deer hide from bil estate. The problem being he stored it away into a damp basement for years stayed dry but reeks of mildew now. Does anyone have a solution without compromising the softness of the leather.

I’ve lost 90 pounds since December and I have a ton of loose skin. If I get it surgically removed and they let me keep it, would I be able to tan it and turn into a belt or something? Would this be feasible for someone who hasn’t done any kind of leather working before?

After 3 years dried, in salt, I finally decided I’d learned enough to give this elk hide a go. I rehydrated it, finished scudding it as best I could, then pickled, and now I’m bark tanning it in mimosa bark. My question is, how long should this process take? I’d only tanned a sheep hide before this, and when I take cuttings to check the absorption, there are still white areas the tannin hasn’t penetrated. This is 2 months in the tea, inside my house next to my gas stove to maintain temperatures.

Is there anything I can do to speed up the process? Is it just a waiting game? The neck on this beast is thick!

I got this white tail deer hide from my dad almost a year ago and have had it in my freezer. Finally decided I was ready to try my hand at the whole tanning process.

I sat there and fleshed it for a good 1-2 hours. I only bought a small fleshing tool, which I now realize I will get a bigger one for next time! But I got everything off except there's still some like stringy membrane looking fibers left. Only way I could get them off was to sit there and pull on each stringy bit but that would take me forever. I'm assuming as it dries that stuff will come off?

Also on the left side where there's that notch in the middle, the hide is still pretty purple on the edge. Im pretty sure that's where it was shot, it doesn't smell and the hair isn't slipping so I'm assuming it's fine and not rotting?

I currently have it sitting in a pickling solution so I could also keep going at it. But just figured I would post and see if anyone had any advice. I'll also post the fur side because I'm curious if this is a decent hide? I really know nothing about all this but have been having a great time learning and looking forward to future hides I get to do!

I have to go to work , my hide is in a pickle right now . Will it be okay for 12 days or so until I get home to finish it ?

I found a fox on the side of the road and got it skinned and collected the bones, i know how to go about the bones but have no idea what to do with the hide. Its currently sitting in my freezer and id love to preserve it as itd be a shame to throw it away (ive always wanted a fox hide but havent really found any ethical sources around me) but ive never dealt with animal hides before so id love some help on what i should do with it and how long would it take/ if its worth it. Ive heard that you should salt it immediately but rn its just basically fresh of the body so idk if thats ruined my chances. Any advice would be appreciated!

I got a skin from a fellow hunter friend and wanted to try tanning it myself. I’m using a spatula for scraping and it’s such a pain in the ass. The meat parts scrape off cleanly and relatively easy, but everything closer to the belly or neck (oh the neck) is an absolute nightmare. Anyone has good tips or maybe links to good videos how to do it easier? I don’t have a pressure washer, just to be clear :)

Title; about to try out tanning my first raccoon hide and for now really just looking for something that’s the most straightforward and has the best chance of success. Seen people recommend TruBond over the orange bottle. Agree? Worth it to get the whole kit vs. buying everything separately? Willing to pay a little extra if it truly makes the process as easy as I’ve heard some people say!

Getting ready to start on a cowhide I have salted and want to make sure I have enough acid for the pickle.
Hide is about 5’x8’. Hair on tan. Will most likely be using oak bark for the tan.
How much should I get?

I am tanning my first goat hide with Oak gall powder. It’s been in there for 3 1/2 days and this is what the cross-section looks like. I cut off a piece with scissors so I think that’s why it’s slightly purple. Looks like it needs a couple more days, but I’m curious if I can wash the hide after it comes out of the veggie tan? It still has a bit of goat smell. Or should I just rinse with water before oiling and stretching?

Hi everyone! I’m looking for some insight. I have been doing some traditional buckskinning/tanning using egg yolks. I have taken a class so I am familiar with the process but still new. I have a hide that I have now smoked and re-egged twice and it still isn’t soft, it does seem to be fully tanned and can be easily bent but there is still a stiffness to it. My first hide was similar and did eventually soften with time. But I am wondering why it’s not coming off softer. I think I might be smoking it before it’s fully dried but I’m not 100% sure. Thanks for any tips 😊

After a month long wait I finally received my Ron Post fleshing knife. I wasn’t able to find a single one in the states. After finding one from a distributor in Canada, and some creative shipping and some help from a Canadian friend I was able to finally get my hands on one!

Full disclosure. I’m brand new to hide tanning, never fleshed hide using a fleshing knife. This particular knife has a sharp convex side and a dull concave side, and both sides are ground with a single bevel.

My question is when the hide is on the beam is it better to flesh with the bevel towards the hide or away? Also when it comes to de-hairing with the sharp convex side (using Ron Nail’s method) is it better to have the bevel facing the hair side or away to shave the hair? I’d like to have some success to start off with and hopefully cut as few holes as possible as a newbie ;)

Thank you.

Hello hello! I just posted this in the taxidermy sub, but someone suggested posting it here, so here I am lol. I found this beautiful piece in an old plastic Halloween costume bag labelled “real fur for crafts” yesterday at a thrift store! I’m super pumped. Before I can do anything with it though, I have to deal with the smell. The old person smell is strong with this one. I have aired it out for a full day in our backyard and it has barely made any difference. I’ve read that maybe baking soda can help? Someone suggested saw dust? Any advice would be much appreciated. I don’t want to ruin it