Guys, this may be on of those stupid questions. I am a beginner and I am working on my 4th head. I learned from my dad who retired from taxidermy 15 years ago after a 20 year carrer. He tells me he is from the old school. My question is: After I am thru fleshing my hide, I will roll it up and put it back in the freezer until another day. I will then take the hide out, thaw it, wash it, put Dry Preserve on it and then mount it. My Dad says I am skipping the 3 day salting of the hide. What is the correct procedure for this, Do I salt or do I not salt. Thank you for your responses. Waylan
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You can't compete in todays market with just using DP. Most customers will ask if you tan your hides and if you tell them no they will keep moving on down the road. So the answer is yes you need to salt before you tan your hides.
It's bad enough to say sh1t like that, but some of you actually believe that. There are thousands of taxidermists doing quite well using dry preservative, so lets not fight that battle here. After all, this is the BEGINNERS category.
Waylan, never, EVER use salt if you're using dry preservative. Both chemicals remove moisture so if you salt it, the DP will not be able to work at all. Salting is for tanning hides and tanning alone. If, one day, you elect to tan instead of DP, THEN you'll need to salt at least overnight.
many sucessful taxidermists use dp all of the time - i have had one person since ive been in business that asked me if i tan or dp - they 'didn't move on down the line'
George, Thanks for your response and information. That is exactly what I needed to know. Waylan.