Degreasing.....

[studabaka]

Do you do it? when do you do it? on what do you do it? what agent do you prefer?

[FinsnFur]

Are you playing with those beavers again? 

Man you asked four questions, in one sentence there.   

I degrease everything that comes in here.
Now before ya say, "Holy balls Champion"  :shck:  Some species I go to greater measures. 

Deer, Northern Bobcats, and Northern Coyotes, I get by, by using Acid bate in the pickle. It dissolves what little fat and grease they have on them right in the pickle.

Almost ever Southern varmint or predator I've taken in, in the last 10 years was so greasy it was oily waxy. Those get Kemal-4 put into the rehydration bath to start the degreasing.
After they are pickled for 3 days they come out and go into Kobloch's Super Solvent Degreaser. You can use it two ways. One is straight, paint it on with a paint brush, the other is...cut it with water and soak it for an hour. I cut it with water but I soak over night.
I dont know why the Southern critters are greasier but my opinion is that they are.

If you use the Super Degreaser straight you'll need to rinse with Kemal-4 before repickling.

Naturally greasy skins like Skunk, Coon, Beaver, Bear, and Wolverine, all get soaked over night in the Super Solvent Degreaser here.

[studabaka]

Holly Balls Champion  :shck: .....  a man's got a right to play with a beaver or two if so inclined, don't he?

:roflmao:

Actually makes sense to me ...... er..... so maybe your doin something wrong 

It must be the southern cooking.... that get's em all greasy 

I'm now using the Kemal-4 for rehydration.... pickle 3 days.... shave/flesh ..... into Riddel's 'Super Solvent' [either these guys ain't real good at being creative in their naming or your yanking my chain  ] but only for 30 min then rinse and back to pickle.

Sounds like I really need to look into this acid bate and maybe give them more time in the degreaser. Most hides seem to do fine, but there are some that just seem greasier and it varies within species..... except cats never seem to be a problem.

[FinsnFur]

I often wonder if Rittel's and Knoblochs named the two products like they did to confuse the consumer. 

I have used the Rittels before and I just think the Knoblochs is better.

Another thing you can do for REAL greasy hides is scud them when they come out of the degreaser. We talked a little bit about that in another thread when we were discussing breaking. Hold on to the hide and with all the pressure you got use the sharp corner of a small board or scraper like a squeegee. You'll get a LOT of grease out that way once it has soaked a while in the degreaser.

Skins that aren't degreased enough or degreased wrong, usually come out somewhat stiff, and complete refuse to take to the breaking process.