I recently mounted my first customer elk. I washed the cape thoroughly before the pickel and changed the pickel twice due to it getting so dirty. I knew there was an organic smell coming from the damp hair when I mounted it. It has been drying for over a week and the smell is still there. The customer is having to do a selling job on his wife to even hang it in their house and I'm sure the smell is not going to help his case! The smell is not overpowering or terribly noticeable. It does have a "wet dog" odor, much the same as it had after tanning. Any advice on what I could possibly do to lessen or remove the smell? Thanks.
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spray it with Febreze, it may help. the smell should go away when it is completely dry. Is your drying room climate controlled?
change small to smell, to early on xmas morning to be typing. LOL
You did not mention tan, as long as the pickle has the proper pH, that is what is important. When you go to neutralize it, then you could rinse it after you have neutralized it, after you have tanned it, you could wash it with tide laundry soap, rinse it good, then mount it, if it is cool where you hang it, you should put a fan on it to help dry it out.
It was pickeled in Saftee acid for 3 days, shaved, then back in the pickel for 2 days. The ph never got above 2 during all 3 pickel mixes. It was then neutralized and McKenzie tanned. My studio is climate controlled--63 degrees when I'm working this time of year and 50 degrees at night. I'll try the fan and Febreeze.
Was it a water based glue, and could you have used it a bit heavy in places? Sometimes the glue pools a bit and even molds or sours. Id also suggest the fan near a very warm air source.
Bill, I used Buckeye Supreme paste and tried to make sure it was even in all areas. The smell I have is the same smell I had after it was tanned and before it was mounted, just not as bad now.
try a product that they sell commonly call skunk-out,this usually works,got it at my vets office