Soft pliable krowtann rug with no breaking

I have a deer hide that I would like to try this on too. Does it matter if it is salted? I know the instructions on Krowtann says no salting required. I also have a bear back skin that I wonder if it would work on, but its salted too.

 

Looking for the information on how your cow hide turned out?

 

I krowtanned a muskrat, oiled and left in fridge for a week. I let it dry. Turned stiff as a rock. That sucks.

 

I use krowtann and had hair falling out. Some one said to try lisol in with tan works great

 

Greenhead, I did flesh it. It's a real bummer. I think though that we all look for the "tan it and forget it with no breaking" dream.

Not sure how I feel about Krowtan. I think for mounting it is great because when wet my muskrat was STRECHY but for garment it didn't work well. I am a garment tanner, not mounter.

 

its always been a mystery to me how tanning jobs end up different. i have tanned a lot of hides and it still happens. i had a couple foxs that i tanned together with ez-100 and did the usual oiling and let the dry. well one of them i got side tracked and forgot to break while still moist. i started braking it and whooolaw its pulled right out and was instantly stretchy, soft and supple with hardly any breaking. wish that would happen more often. its seems that most of the time they are hard when left to dry. i should have kept better notes. dont know if it was a shorter time in the tanning solution, or pickled better. who knows. i just wish i could get cosistency. did a coyote today and worked it and it was a little stiffer. just frustrates the heck out of me.

 

I've read this entire thread and I see two rocket scientists attempting brain surgery. As Tom says, wait until your OIL dries out. I don't know where you got the information on how tanneries oil hides, but it damned sure wasn't from a tannery and if breaking a hide was that easy, tanneries would save millions of dollars on those silly room sized tumblers. Somebody's been drinking that snake oil again I think.

 

thats a possibility. however, it was a fox and early at that. i was just stating facts of what happened. within a few tugs of the finger on the legs it was pretty soft and stayed that way. i've never done it with a coyote. one thing i would like to pick your mind on is what does a overtanned hide do. i keep getting a coyote here and ten that is really stretchy when i'm breaking it, then when that last hint of moisture leaves it starts to get stiffer. is that normal or is that what they pay the big bucks for a tumbler. i feel like i still have a lot to learn.

 

I've never experienced "over tanning". I have experience lack or improper neutralization and "acid rot" where a hide disintegrates when wet. What you describe is typical. On your fox, you're actually breaking the hide on that thin skin when you stretch it. Heavier skinned animals don't "break" that easily I fear. That's where the sawdust filled drums come in.