I'm going to college and am writing a paper on comparison/contrast. My subject is tanning vs. dry preservative. I've found a great deal of information on both, but haven't been able to locate a good definition of "tanning." Could you please provide a definition that does not go into a great deal of "chemistry" or taxidermy "lingo" that would work for the average lay person?
process of preserving animal skins to produce leather
we are not idiots. we are just looking for an reasonable definiton of tanning, any professional definition would be appreciated. this is just a lady trying to do a research paper for college, not someone who is looking for an answer from someone who apparently cant give a professional answer to a question.plese help. no smart a--- answers please.
"Tanning is the Chemical process used in the Fur and Leather industries to chemically preserve skin proteins. It is accomplished by chemically bonding charged stabilizing chemicals to the protein fibers to provide a very useable finished product, capable of a long shelf life, lightfast to sunlight, and sufficiently durable to withstand washing, moderate temperatures, and the manufacturing processes."
I hope this will be useful!
What are you really asking? Taxidermists use a product produced in a skin called fur dressing. In laymans terms this is like
Bruce said, encapsulating various chemicals around the fibers of a
skin to preserve it for a extended length of time. This allows the taxidermist to soak up the skin and give him stretch so as to allow it to be stretched over a mannikin for taxidermy purposes.
Actual tanning is when you use a chemical that actually goes into the
fibers and changes the make up of the skin. This is like your
shoe leather. When it gets wet it does not stretch but on drying is
back to the same size as when it was before it was wet.
Both processes are near in looks but serve very different needs. The
fact is that the general public confuses the two, they are very different in processes and final results.
Dry Preserative on the other hand does neither of the above. It is
just taking a raw skin and putting a preserative on the surface to merely keep it from spoiling or rotting until it is dry. When the skin
is dry you have nothing more than a skin that is dry, raw hide, with
a little powder on either side at best. All the natural oils, fats,
lipids and other undersirable elements are still in this skin, not so
in the above two, and therefore have the least desirable of the three.
The Fur Dresser
P.S. Know the difference, tanning is tanning and Fur Dressing is really something else......
thanks for the help guys. your professionalism is very much appreciated. i wish i was an educated enough taxidermist to return the favor. again---THANKS.
If I offended anyone by giving my response, I aplogize.
After seeing the original question, I looked up the definition of tanning
from four different books I own, just on the subject.
I picked the one I gave you, as it met your request ;
"Could you please provide a definition that does not go into a great deal of
"chemistry" or taxidermy "lingo" that would work for the average lay person? "
Believe me I hadn't thought of you as an idiot, and I didn't think my answer
was smart a$$.
Sorry to have offended you and yours
I think we need to tan our own hides...so they are a little thicker. when I read Bob's response, I didn't feel it was derogatory at all. I've just recently got my computer back after a month of waiting to catch up with all the news on this site. Boy! After an hour of wading through just the wanted and for sale categories, I was wondering if everyone ate the dreaded fruitcake over christmas and had some weird reaction. I can understand everyone being a little touchy and hesitant to even log on with a question and it makes me very sad to think this site might lose the marvelous humor and spontaneous comebacks along with all of the great information. I hope it doesn't come down to deerwoman's suggestion about registering every time, but I think we all need to adhere to the basic respect we would give someone if we were standing face to face with them and maybe have a little fun too.
Wava Jacobchick
Seriously... no need to OVER flesh! Perhaps the comment was too simplistic for a college paper, but I do NOT think it was meant as smartA$$! BobB, apology accepted, but NOT necessary! Wava is right!
P.S. Welcome back Wava! :-)
great to be back. I didn't think it was fair to have to give up BOTH smoking and this forum. I think I had more withdrawal symptoms from missing the computer than from the butts! :-)
No offense taken bob. i didnt mean for my response to sound like it did. was just looking for an answer to the question.my response to you was meant in good humor.i hope you took it that way.thank you.
hope nobody else was offended either.my response wasnt meant to be offensive.i apologize if it was taken that way.
No problem, but it did read that way though. Good luck with the paper... let know how it went, if you want! :-)
i am not a good typist and my quetions and responses sound a bit abbrasive. i wish i could do better, but please dont pay any mind to what you read in what i say because it isnt what i am intending. this is an excellent forum full of very good people.
Wow! I was fooled, too. Glad I read that one through...You just never can tell, with only typed words, no feelings.
again, my sincere apologies. seriously, no offense intended to anyone and i will do better in accepting answers. as far as my wifes paper--she got an "A".my appreciation, as well as hers, goes out to everyone who responded.i think this forum wouldnt be what it is without you fine folks.thanks for the time and patience to deal with an "ass" like myself.--p.s. bill yox, the tending of the cows is going good in texas.
I suppose someone here would be more than happy to take you out back fur a SWITCH Whippin' if you like? :-)
If you apologize again... I'll do it myself! Hee Hee ;-)
Just Jokin'
LOLOL!