I have a coon that I am going to tan using Liqua-Tan. I am going to allow the tan to soak into the skin for several hours, then I wanted to mount it. My question is, after the 5-6 hours of letting the tan soak into the hide, can I then shampoo with a conditioning shampoo, tumble, and mount, or do I need to let the Liqua-Tan soak in longer?
What about with Lutan F--can a small mammal hide be shampooed, tumbled, and mounted after tanning, or willthis wash either tan out of the hide?
Thanks for your help!
Damon I have mounted small game tanned with lutan-f or EZ-100 and then shampooed them in the shower,you get funny looks from your wife when you do this,but the mounts look beautiful.The fur fluffs up and is nice and shiny.It doesn't seem to hurt them at all.As for shampooing before mounting I wouldn't recommend it.Not because it will wash out the tan,I doubt that a quick wash will do that,but as your mounting it, you will be handling the fur and getting hide paste on it and it will need to cleaned up again anyway.I would at least wait until I had it sewn up.
If you use Lutan, try using some Atlasol-177 (from Van Dykes) with the tan. (This is for furred critters.) A couple of ounces will do. It acts like a conditioner. When the fur dries, it will fluff up like it has been tumbled for hours, without any tangles. NOTE: do not use with Basyn-tan, it will clump up the whole mixture. I haven't tried it with EZ tan. So beware if you do. 2-3 months ago someone posted about something clumping with their tan. (with hide in it). I lucked out, I happened to let it set first, when I came back, the tan/oil mix had seperated to a hard crust on the top and on the bottom of my bucket. I learned that one the not-so-hard way! Dan K
..and happy holidays to all!