Wash naturally tanned coyote pelt.

A

AHunter

New member
I have a coyote pelt a local taxidermist tanned for me using the brains. It came out really nice but it reeks very strongly of tobacco.
I want to put it in my sons room.
What would happen if I washed it to get the smell out?
Would it ruin it or would it dry out and be fine?
Any suggestions?
 
My guess would be that it would dry out and be as hard as a piece of 3/4 inch plywood.
As far as the tan leaching out, I have to think it would. Back when they used brain tanning, they also smoked the hides to waterproof them.

Just my opinion, Ahunter /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

If it was mine, I'd look up the taxidermist and ask him, "What the hell". Then when I got back I'd hang it out side to air out which will probably cure it.
 
Thanks River Runner,
I have been hanging it outside and it is not helping much.
I didn't think washing it would be a good idea but wanted some other opinions.
Thanks for responding.
 
Oh contrair, River Runner! I have braintanned a bunch of deer hides and smoking them does NOT make them water proof. This is a common misconception. What the smoking does is "fix" the braintanning into the hide (as well as give it color). What this does is allow the hide to get wet and dry any number of times and stay soft. This is why it is so important to smoke the hides after they are braintanned. The process of braintanning is what makes it "buckskin". What you get from modern tanneries is done with chromium salts, etc. and is leather, not buckskin. I wash all of my buckskins after they are smoked to reduce the smokey smell and they all come soft after they are dry with a just a few stretches in a couple directions.
I have a pair of buckskin pants that I made last year that have been washed several times and they are like wearing a pair of comfortable old jeans. Thats the really cool thing about real buckskin is that it breathes and can be washed, unlike leather.
You may want to ask the person you got the fur from, but if it smells like tabacco, I am guessing this is because the hide was smoked after it was tanned. If so, you should be able to wash it in some mild shampoo, like Suave, etc. Then hang it up to dry. It will stiffen up a little, but if it is smoked properly you will be able to stretch it a couple times in 2 or 3 directions and it will come soft again.
 
I couldn't agree with you more, Grizz.
I think you took my reply the wrong way. The term "waterproof" when used pertaining to tanning doesn't mean literally waterproof. I mean really now, what is exactly waterproof? A raincoat, it repells water instead of absorbing it.

A hide that has been tanned "waterproof" means that the tanning agent cannot be leached out of it by water.

When I replied;
My guess would be that it would dry out and be as hard as a piece of 3/4 inch plywood.
As far as the tan leaching out, I have to think it would. Back when they used brain tanning, they also smoked the hides to waterproof them.
Click to expand...
...I had no indication whether or not the hide had been smoked. Had it been smoked properly, yes the hide would retain the tanning agents and it's leather qualities. Just as you indicated in your post.
You say that smoking "fixes the brain tanning into the hide".
Fixes it from what, I have to ask? water? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Once again, as far as the tan leaching out, I have to think it would. Back when they used brain tanning, they also smoked the hides to waterproof them. "which would help prevent the tanning agents from being leached from the hide when wet"
 
River Runner, I think we are on the same wavelength.

As far as "fixing" the braintanning, I am using the term like they do in photography. When the image is first taken out of the developer it needs to be put into the "fixer" to make it permanent, otherwise the paper would continue to develop and turn the whole image black.
To really understand what the smoking does with buckskin, you have to understand the mechanics of braintanning a little bit. Braintanning can actually be done with several things besides brains as well. I have used egg yolks and a little neats foot oil for "brains". They key being that you need an emulsified oil. What the brains do is penetrate and lubricate the individual fibers of the hide. After soaking in the brains, the hide must be wrung out, and then "softened" as it dries. It must be stretched, abraided, etc. as it dries. Not constantly, but thoroughly periodically. What you are doing is keeping the fibers moving as it dries. If you just let it sit and dry out it will be a big potato chip (the hide has literally glued itself together).
Once the hide is dry and as soft as you want it (you can brain it again if it isn't quite as soft as you like), you smoke it. What the smoke does is actually get into the spaces between the fibers and the smoke molecules bind extremely well to the fibers, which is why you can't wash it out. These molecules take up the space that water would otherwise get into and make the hide glue that makes an unsmoked hide stiffen up. You can wash the color out by repeated washings, but the molecules that keep is soft can not be washed out. Once the soft hide is smoked, the brains (or tanning) being leached out is more or less irrelevent. The braining and softening process gets the hide soft, the smoking keeps it soft.
River Runner, you probably already know some of this, but I thought I would post it for the benefit of other as well.
 


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