Anyone ever tan a seal hide

[rasorbackq]

Looking for info on seal hide grease removal !!

[muscle20]

 If the degreasing solvent is not working for you try this , water to just cover skin , 3ibs. salt, 2oz of kerosene, 11/2 oz detergent , agitate frequently for 1 hour, then wash for half hour in detergent and salt, then rinse in cold water till soap is gone. If that does not work for you I do not know what will , I have used this many times and it should help you, remember safety first( kerosene).

[rasorbackq]

 Does it matter if 3 out of 4 hides are already lutan F tanned and dried? Can I just rehydrate and start from scratch? pickle and tan again?

[muscle20]

 I  degrease before and during the pickle, but theres not much chose if the skins are full of grease and probably under tanned. I do not think it will hurt to rehydrate and start over again as you will wash out the tan in this process as well as the oil you applied,adjust your ph and do not leave the skins in the tan very long as you say 3 of the 4 are already tanned and you will not know how much tan is affixed after washing and degreasing, if you over tan you will loose your stretch and suppleness . Have the tan solution at 30c it tans quicker and agitate often, I have never degreased a skin after tanning,always before the pickle and during, cost effective. tanning in itself is very labour intensive and is a good idea to follow the procedure to the t and not have to back track, hope it works out for you.

[oldshaver]

Muscle20's method might work? Never tried it.

A more conventional method, might be to contact Mark Daniels, at Knoblochs. To me, on a greasy skin like that, enzymes, would be the way to go. A seal, is kinda like an ostrich, when it comes to fat removal. Its a tough row to hoe!

[Felpy]

Are you trying to degrease the fur side or the leather?

[RDA]

uhhh   a  SEAL 

[Bruce Rittel]

In AK we used to soak the pickled skins, after draining them for 30 minutes - in pure Odorless Mineral Spirits for 2 hours. We did not add anything else to the OMS. Then remove them, wash with a washing agent, and rinse them until the milky rinse water turned clear. Then they went back into the pickle.

Keep the soak pure OMS. Dont throw it away after you use it. We used to add 20% water to it and set it aside after we used it and let it settle for 2-3 weeks, and all the grease and solids in it would sink to the bottom. Then - since it was always 20 below zero outside, we'd place it on our porch outside and let it freeze the bottom. Afterwards, we poured off the top to be reused, and threw the frozen water part away.

[rasorbackq]

 What is OMS?

[rasorbackq]

 The leather is full of oil
 So far I have rehydrated the skins and froze them to plan attack #2 . What is oderly mineral sprits . Where can  ne purchase. ??

[Bruce Rittel]

OMS = Odorless Mineral Spirits. It's Kerosene without the odor. And it's a good degreaser. In a pinch your local hardware should carry it but it's more expensive in the smaller amounts. Check out your local Chemical Companies for it.