Home tanning

[browning204]

is there really a home tanning kit that works?

Like make the skin all soft and nice for a long time. Or can that only be done at a tannery???

[FinsnFur]

It can be done at home Browning~.
Very little of what a tanning kit does to a skin makes it soft. Most of what it takes to make a skin soft is done before and after it's actually tanned.

[ninthinning]

I tried home tanning.  I have eleven beaver pelts that are boards with fur.   Coyotes, fox came out OK.  Muskrats turned out OK.  Next year I'm going to study up better on tanning.

[FinsnFur]

Sounds like a preparation issue Ninth...but an easy one to make on Beavers. The grease prevents the tanning agents from penetrating the skin.
They need to be degreased and scudded pretty well before hand. 

[studabaka]

Yup, Jim got me straightened out on that problem, now I kinda view my pickle as my control gate..... It don't make it past the pickle till is limp [I mean real limp] and plump [and I mean real plump]..... if it ain't, it's hardly worth tanning.

And if your planning to tan your hide, salt dry it. Don't air dry it. That air drying really sets a hard greese barrier. 

[Drifter]

Anyone used the Krowtan yet ?

Drifter

[FinsnFur]

Is that an all in one tan, or a tanning agent?
I've never used it, obviously.. but if it's one of them all in one tans, there's a good chance it's meant for taxidermy work.

Not to sound like a know it all, or to discriminate against a product I know nothing of, but can you imagine what something like  this Krow Tan would do to the fur industry if you could achieve garment quality results with it?

Bloomingdales has some nice sheared mink, 3/4 length coats running at $3600 each. I bet they weren't Krow tanned.




Now that I proof read that, it sounds like I'm going off on you Drifter for merely mentioning it.  I assure you that's not my position here.
I've been tanning semi commercially for 15 years so you have to kinda excuse my preaching when a rub in tan product comes up. It makes me cringe to think that new comers might learn or feel that  it provides matching or exceeding results to the full tanning process.
And heck who knows...maybe this Krow Tan isn't even a rub in tan. 

Many of the rub in tans work, and work very well. But it's still not an apples to apples alternative to the full tanning process, and the leather and garment industry will verify that 

[studabaka]

I've used Krowtan and had good results. The issue/concern with stuff like that is that it may leach out of the hide over time.... especially if exposed to moisture. I can't say it does or it doesn't, but I have a few hides around here that I did with Krowtan several years ago and they are the same today as the day I 'tanned' them, though they are hanging in a climate controled environment.

Depending on your situation and how you plan to use/care for a hide, Krowtan might be an easy approach.

99% of what I do and 100% of the ones I do for others are done using eztan etal..... I do like to try stuff from time to time on my own hides just to see first hand.

[Hawks Feather]

Years back I thought that I would save some money and bought a half dozen deer hides to tan for some buckskinner clothes.  I got the hair off pretty good and then I did the tanning.  Knowing nothing is not the best way to start and following the directions was not much better.  The hides are tanned, meaning they didn't rot, but about the best I can do is fold them in half so I could put them in the top of the garage.  Not quite the "quality" of finished product that I was looking for.   

Jerry

[studabaka]

If they did take the tan....depending on what tanning agent you used..... you may just have a breaking problem which is fixable. If you don't break the hide as it dries, even if it has a good tan, it will become hard. You might be able to hydrate them a bit and then work them as they dry. I have a tumbler which helps a lot 

[FinsnFur]

Give em hell Stu