Everything You Need to Know About Tanning Animal Pelts.

This instructable will show you how to properly flesh, salt, and tann a animal pelt and driffernt ways of doing it. If you buy tanning solution follow the instructions that should come with it before you follow mine. sorry about the lack of pictures i will add my own pictures when i shoot more game. 

Step 1: Things Needed

Salt about 3 pounds for a squirrel or rabbit and up to 15 pounds for a deer hide from my expernce. 1pound 10oz of salt sells for 44cents at walmart.
Nails or a staple gun to pin the pelt down to a peace of wood
Wood to nail your hide down to.

Step 2: Fleshing the Pelt

Pin the pelt, fur side down, to a board with satples or small nails. Scrape away as much flesh from the inside of the pelt as possible with the blade of a knife. Take care not to cut holes in the skin. This process is known as fleshing the pelt. A good video showing this process is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EuZ5rXbllU

Step 3: Salting the Pelt

After you got all the flesh off the pelt now you got to salt the pelt. For a small pelt like squirrel and rabbits you will need only about 2 or 3 contaners of salt but for a deer hide or bigger you will need atleast 15 contaners of salt. Now you pour the salt on the pelt and rub it in to all of the edges and folds that might be in the pelt. Any unsalted place in the pelt will start to rot. Check on your pelt every morning and every nigjt when the salt is wet to the tuch scrape it off with a dull knife and replace it. The amount of time it takes for the pelt to dry depends on alot of factors when you dont need to change the salt for afew days its mostlikely dry and you can move on to the next step.

A good video for this is
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sj9SNGaSshI

Step 4: Soaking the Pelt

Soak the skin in several changes of cool water. Use a  5 gallon plastic garbage can for all soaking and tanning processes. Never use a metal container, as the salt and tanning chemicals can react with the metal. While a skin must be soaked until soft, do not allow it to stay wet longer than necessary because the hair may start to slip. Soaking time depends upon the condition of the skin; some skins require only about two hours while others need a much longer time.

When the skin begins to soften, lay it on a smooth board and begin working over the flesh side to break up the adhering tissue and fat. All dried skins have a shiny tight layer of tissue that must be broken up and entirely removed this can be done by alternately scraping and soaking the hide. Take care not to injure the true skin or expose the hair roots, especially on thin skins like squirrel and rabbit. When the skin is almost soft, put it in lukewarm water containing an ounce of baking soda or Borax per gallon. For greasy skins, adding a tablespoon of dishwashing soap per gallon of water may help clean the skin. Use a stick or somthing made from wood to stir the skin around in the solution. Doing this cleans the skin so it will accept the tanning better. Now you rinse the pelt in warm water and squese the water out DO NOT WRING THE PELT

Step 5: Tanning Option 1 Alum and Borax Tanning

Things needed for alum and borax tanning
1 pound of borax
1 pound of ammonia alum or potassum alum

I had trouble finding the alum but i seen it on ebay but i had some leftover from a old crystal growing kit i got years ago.

Step 6: Alum and Borax Tanning

Make a paste of 4 oz. of Borax and 4 oz. alum, with a little water added. Mix the paste well to remove any lumps.Coat the inside of the pelt with the Borax paste, using a knife to spread it to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Put on rubber gloves and work the paste with your fingers, rubbing it firmly into the skin. Leave the paste on the skin until the next day, then scrape it off and apply another coating. Repeat this procedure three more times, leaving the last coating in place for three to four days.

Scrape off the paste and rinse the pelt repeatedly under running water until there is no trace of Borax. Hang the pelt up and leave it until it is nearly dry.

Pin the slightly damp pelt to the board, fur side down. Rub a little neatsfoot oil into the the inside of the pelt. Keep doing this until the pelt is soft and supple. From time to time, remove the pelt from the board and stretch it vigorously in all directions. This helps your finished hide remain flexible and soft.

After this your done Tanning your hide

Step 7: Tanning Option 2 Alcohol Turpentine Things Needed

I have never atempted tanning a pelt this way so there will be no pictures untill i do but i have been told how to do this though afew people and lots of internet searches. This method is best for small skins like rabbit and squirrel. The things you will need are...

large mouthed gallon jar
Wood alcohol (methanol paint remover) available at local hardware stores
Turpentine available at local hardware stores
Dishwashing soap

Step 8: Tanning Option 2 Alcohol Turpentine

Mix the tanning solution in the jar add equall parts alcohol and turpentine one half pint each should be enough for squrriel or rabbit skins. Then put the skins in the solution and shake it atleast once a day because the alcohol and turpentine will seperate after awhile. After 7 to 10 days take the pelt out of the solution and wash it in dishwashing soap to get all of the alcohol and turpentine out of the pelt. Rinse the pelt afew times and squeeze do not wring. After thats done rub neatsfeet oil into the skin and your done.

Step 9: Conclusion

I did not explane all of the ways to tann hides i might in future instructables or just add them on to this instructable. In afew days i am gonna put up an instructable on how to tann a deerhide with store bought tanning solution. I have not tried these methods of tanning a hide i got tanning solution off of ebay. I got all of this info from internet research and plan on improving this instructable as i try the methods. If anyone has any tips or any other methods of tanning hides i would love to hear them along with any imput that will make this instructable better. Thanks