bought a commercially tanned cape from someone on this site a awhile back.was dry tanned. i rehydrated and washed with dawn soap to take measurements.Then i froze until i mounted it. i thawed and soaked in water for 15 minutes, spun most of the water out ,bagged and let sit in fridge over night.When i went to mount the hair started to slip pretty bad behind the ear.I checked the ten pages of archives on this subject and Bruce Rittel responded on 9-19-01 that you can actually wash the tan out.This was my third attempt at a deer head.Can i avoid by not washing with the soap and just leave in water so as to dampen the hide. I want to head off this problem early. thanks.
Also, i used a fiberglass type bondo with an earliner ,could this get too hot when it "kicks"
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The initial soaking of about 15 minutes to rehydrate would have sufficed. You should have just put it in the refrigerator overnight and then take the measurements and freeze. The second soaking in the water after being thawed out was completely unnecessary. Your cape was already rehydrated. Why did you soak it again? And why did you let it sit in the fridge overnight? You also don't need to wash a commercially tanned hide either. Just resoak once and that's it. Too much soaking can lossen the hairroots and cause them to fall out especially on iffy capes.
Shouldn't the soaking be done in acidified water,(pH=2.0 to 2.5), containing at least 6% salt,(sodium or potassium chloride)and wouldn't it be helpful if the soak also contained 4 to 6% of an acid replacement tanning agent?
Seems to us that Rittel's Safety Acid would be good for adjusting the pH. SENTRY's liquid replacement tanning agent should help anchor the tan or help stabilize the tan that may be in the pelt.
The acid replacement tan will start a secondary tanning action which, along with the salt and 2.0 pH, should help anchor the hair slip.
You can reach SENTRY at 1-800-868-1454.
They have a web site at www.sentrycustomservices.com
Your thoughts will be welcomed. God bless.
The acid replacement tan will start
will freezing the skin make the fur fall out ? iam just leaning . RainDance
The safest way to rehydrate a tanned skin or cape is to use the following method. This is safe even if it is the type of tan that can easily be washed out - and it works on all of them!
Mix a soaking solution using a handful of Salt (4 Ozs. by weight) to every 1 gallon of water. Nothing else added. Soak your skins or capes in this for 30 minutes. Remove - place them in a plastic garbage bag, and refrigerate them overnight. Do not freeze. The next morning they will normally be relaxed and ready to prep and mount - or tumble them for 5 minutes to remove any excess moisture - then fold and freeze them (dont refrigerate them).
Whether you know what kind of tan it was or not - this system works great and prevents "acid swelling" from occuring. I highly recommend it. Also - tanned skins should be clean when they arrive - the only thing you might want to do if they appear oily, is to throw some odorlkess mineral spirits in some sawdust and give them a tumble to clean up the outside fur and flesh side of tanning oils and natural oils in the fur or hair.