Question about rugs (Did I mess up?)

Crooked Tree · Mar 24, 2013

I'm working on three rugs and i'm having some issues. I went to school and we did a rug but didn't learn anything beyond mounting the head so I bought a video and gave it a whirl. Overall i'm pretty happy with the taxidermy work but i'm not sure if i did things right after that. All three hides were commercially dry tanned (two from one place and one from another) so i rehydrated them ,mounted them,then put them on the rug board. This is where things fall apart, the two that came from the same tannery (a wolf and cougar) came out really stiff and crinkely ,kinda like a air dried coyote. Just wondering if I messed up and if there is a way to get the leather back a little more supple. PS the cougar from the other tannery came out quite abit nicer

Mr.T · Mar 24, 2013

Your comfy broke in leather boots, get soaked and water logged, you dry them and they shrink and get stiff. Sound familiar? If you wanted a soft rug you should have skipped the rehydrating, now you have stiff rugs, and there really isn't anything bad with that, I wouldn't worry about it to much unless the customer strongly voiced that they want a soft supple rug.

PLTannery · Mar 24, 2013

If you are going to put 1" of foam, Felt and Backing on them, you will probably never know they are a bit crinkly. Next time, Don't fully rehydrate, Just dampen them so they hold a little memory when they dry.

Crooked Tree · Mar 24, 2013

Thanks guys that all makes sense, wish I found this site a month ago, lots of great advise and wisdom

xsticker · Mar 24, 2013

When I do my rugs I just dampen the hide with a sponge then stretch, this way it doesn't get stiff and is still supple. just don't over wet just damp

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Question about rugs (Did I mess up?)

Crooked Tree New Member

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