# tanning/preserving hides/pelts



## iago (Mar 7, 2008)

does anyone know any good easy methods of preserving animal skin? preferably any methods that do not require chemicals (i dont have anything against using chemicals i just cant afford them)

I was reading about boiling oak bark in water for a while then soaking the hide in that from anywhere from 1-3 days depending on if you want fir on it or not and then letting it dry for a couple days then smoking it over an oak bark fire. has anyone tried this and know if it works well?

also i want to preserve some fresh rat feet. i was told borax might work. does anyone know how to do this or anyway of doing it?


----------



## RandomRaccoon (Mar 8, 2008)

You want to look at this me thinks------>www.braintan.com


----------



## Immortal dirty Squirrel (Mar 8, 2008)

Idealy, you would want to use the brain to tan the hide. It contains lots of tannins, plus its exactly the right amount for whatever hide that you are working with. yep, use everything.

As far as the rat feet. Just put em' in a bag of salt for a week or two.


----------



## eightstring (Nov 26, 2008)

Immortal dirty Squirrel said:


> Idealy, you would want to use the brain to tan the hide. It contains lots of tannins, plus its exactly the right amount for whatever hide that you are working with. yep, use everything.
> 
> As far as the rat feet. Just put em' in a bag of salt for a week or two.



yeah thats pretty much it. i find mixing the brains with some pee works well too. and i found out early that you hafta be careful when smoking the hide that you dont get it too close to the flames. seems like a no brainer but i was surprised how little heat it took to fuck it up


----------



## elokupa (Nov 26, 2008)

hang on, what if you want to keep the fur? Im gnna make a roadkill jacket


----------



## skunkpit (Nov 26, 2008)

you can soak the fur in water and or piss for 3 days or so then pull the fur off really easy like
if you want the fur on just flesh and tan
smoking will tighten the hair foliculs n the fur wont fall off


----------

