I have my first cape tanned and in the freezer (a welcome break). I have trimmed my earliners to fit, and will be epoxying them in place (after I thaw the cape). I used a syn tan oil on the cape and it is a bit oily. I was planning to clean the ears with lacquer thinner prior to epoxying. Two questions:
1) Should I use lacquer thinner for cleaning the skin on the inside of the ears? I ask this (in part) after George's response about white gas- as lacquer thinner is also very flammable. I would like to get George's opinion on this- as well as the opinion of others. I also ask this sincerely, and with NO dis-respect intended to George or anyone else. I don't have as thin of a skin as alot of people on here seem to, but George's response made sense to me. And PLEASE- don't turn this question into a bicker-fest;
2)The entire cape is a bit oily from the tan oil. Should this be disregarded and glue the cape to the form as is, or should I clean some of the oil off first? And if it should be cleaned first, with what?
Thank you for any help.
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Fuels still have a bit of oil in them. I also use Mineral Spirits for cleaning a cape, and to chase water from my birds.
Yes, it could blow up in my face, but just use common sense and be carefull.
Mark, I have had good results from washing my tanned, oily capes in cool water and a small amount of detergent for a few minutes and then rinse with cold water and tumble almost dry. Then I mount it. I do clean the ear skin inside and out with laquer thinner to remove any oily residue. The epoxy seems to hold much better. I may be doing it wrong but so far no problems at all. I started using this method about 75 deer heads ago.