My process for processing pelts.

I figure there may be some interest so i will describe my process for racoondog pelts here. There will be some pictures in the fiture but i already did most steps before realising i should maybe document it. I do all my pelts at once yearly after storing salted in the freezer.

feel free to ask about my tools etc if i miss something.

These pelts are racoondog, they have some special characteristics compared to foxed and deer.

their skin is very tough/forgiving, however soaked in rancid smelling grease. before any real processing/fleshing the grease needs to be pulled from the skin.

the first step after skinning is carefully cutting away chunks of fat, then rubbing the skins fleshside with bilesoap lather and roadsalt. This gets rubbed in and left overnight.

the next day i take my degreasing tool, made of hardwood plank sanded to a 45 degree edge and with alot of force work the now softened grease off the hides.

next its fleshing, this step is pretty basic, i use a modified debarking tool (a Crescent shaped draw knife) to work from the neck down removing the membrame in one piece. Doing this before degreasing is nearly impossible!
on these animals!

Some bits of flesh are usually left after this stage but from here further degreasing can be done, i rub a soapy solution into the skin, warm the hide with a hairdryer and use the wooden tool to forcefully wring the grease out stretching the hide further in the process.

when done i salt my hides again, nail them to my shed wall and leave overnight to dry a bit, this is important for the next step.

next step being a steel brush or brass brush. I take the skins down again and brush the flesh side in 4 directions, this roughens it up a bit and shreds any leftover membrame into strings.

i then take an old school safety razor, the single bladed kind and i scrape off the now stringy bits.

I personally ignore the edges of the hide as they are cut off at the end of the process anyway.
Now comes the part everything seems most interested in on the internet, the tanning part.

I start by nailing them back on the wall and allowing them to fully dry.

then comes the tanning part, Mixing egg yolks, water, mink oil and pine tar into a cream and rubbing it into the skins, i mostly mix them by feeling, it should become a mayonaise like emulsion. I repeat this step daily until it wont absorb anymore Then i leave them another 48 hours.

then i take down the hides again and once More break out the wooden tool, its a seriously handy tool because no matter how hard you push on it within reason it wont cut the hides. I wet the hides a little and use the tool to squeeze out any surplus tanning mixture while also stretching and softening the hides.

I nail them back to the wall of my shed using the same holes left in the hide from previous times

then comes the important smoking step, i cold smoke in the shed until completely dried out usually 24 hours.

at this point they are technically done, but because i make outdoor gear out of them i have one last step.

I mix pine tar and pine turpentine and apply in 3 layers with a brush, make sure to dry them outside and keep away from open Flames until dry. This step further resists water and decay and theoretically creates a pelt that will last forever so long as it doesnt get left outside for months.

I will post pictures when iam done, perhaps i can catch one more so i can specifically document each step on camera. Its hard to remember to take pictures when you are in the workflow.

most steps will apply to other animals as well, bigger animals will take mutch more time tanning and smoking, Animals like foxes dont require the whole degreasing thing before fleshing. rabbits and hare... i dont think i ever managed to not rip them during fleshing but il keep practising, those snowhare we have here grow beautiful winter fur. For deer sized pelts you will want to spray the hides with water regularly during thr tanning process or the tanning mix will dry out before it is able to fully penetrate.

Thanks. Interesting read and always curious of what people from other cultures and countries do. What kind of outdoor items are made and are these pelts particularly good, or are the just numerous in your area?

woodmaster said:

Thanks. Interesting read and always curious of what people from other cultures and countries do. What kind of outdoor items are made and are these pelts particularly good, or are the just numerous in your area?

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they are numerous because they are so good. Furfarm escapees that became a plague upon the land.

They are just about ideal for cold climate garments, very dense thick ruggef fur with a warm undercoat and very hard wearing leather for the thickness.

Native to asia they where once imported and matketed under the name Finnracoon and prized for the warmth and weather resistance of their coats.

Unfortunately they absolutely thrive in our climate and have few predators on account of that nasty grease, before degreasing they smell like a rotting carcass mixed with vomit.

Their diet consists mainly of vulnerable native birds and carrion but they will eat literally anything from bugs to liquified roadkill baked into the tarmac and discarded mcdonalds. Even grain fields are not safe.

A lot of people hate them and treat them as garbage, tanning is a dying art here nowadays and i personally dont know anyone who even wants to get close enough to skin them on account of the smelly grease.

We get a cash bounty for killing them, iam of a zero waste ethic so i tan and use everything. Furs for sale or garments, carcass for compost.

They are considered to be one of the main reasons we see less and less grouse. They are hyperadaptive super omnivores that breed like rabbits


this should give an idea of their pelt

Summer

Winter

I'd like to tan some fox pelts here in the future, I'd at least like to keep the first one I shoot regardless even if it means paying too get it done locally.

Pelts are neat not to mention there's a huge want for them in the oddity market, as almost all your pelts are old vintage stoles at this point, not exactly the most pleasant skins.

Sol said:

I'd like to tan some fox pelts here in the future, I'd at least like to keep the first one I shoot regardless even if it means paying too get it done locally.

Pelts are neat not to mention there's a huge want for them in the oddity market, as almost all your pelts are old vintage stoles at this point, not exactly the most pleasant skins.

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It really isnt as intimidating as it seems to many people. I wouldnt pay for it myself. Just skin it, carve off any chunks of flesh if needed, wich it shouldnt be if you skin carefully. Pack in salt until you get around to it. Once salted i leave my pelts in the shed over the summer. Just rehydrate to work them later.

But then foxes shouldnt take more than an hour of your time in actual labor, the rest is waiting.

The extra steps i take like smoking and tarring are only for weather resistance. An egyolk gives a pretty good tan on its own. Not selling quality for garments and such but it will keep well enough.


If i was to sell them i would go to bark tanning, i have done that as well, its extremely simple but the labour involved just isnt worth it for me when a tarred rawhide would serve my purpose almost as well.

For a bark tan, i seee alot of people sweat about specific trees and plants.

I just dig some peat out of the bog and boil down a tea from it, boiled down until its dark and thick.

Or if you are pruning willows, their bark works the same way.

The leather becomes stronger and fibrous in my experience but also more prone to water damage and bug infestations. Its what the furriers and leatherworkera usually want tho.

Karhumies said:

It really isnt as intimidating as it seems to many people. I wouldnt pay for it myself. Just skin it, carve off any chunks of flesh if needed, wich it shouldnt be if you skin carefully. Pack in salt until you get around to it. Once salted i leave my pelts in the shed over the summer. Just rehydrate to work them later.

But then foxes shouldnt take more than an hour of your time in actual labor, the rest is waiting.

The extra steps i take like smoking and tarring are only for weather resistance. An egyolk gives a pretty good tan on its own. Not selling quality for garments and such but it will keep well enough.


If i was to sell them i would go to bark tanning, i have done that as well, its extremely simple but the labour involved just isnt worth it for me when a tarred rawhide would serve my purpose almost as well.

For a bark tan, i seee alot of people sweat about specific trees and plants.

I just dig some peat out of the bog and boil down a tea from it, boiled down until its dark and thick.

Or if you are pruning willows, their bark works the same way.

The leather becomes stronger and fibrous in my experience but also more prone to water damage and bug infestations. Its what the furriers and leatherworkera usually want tho.

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Good note about the peat, that seems like it would arguably be the best stuff for it.

Karhumies said:

Unfortunately they absolutely thrive in our climate and have few predators on account of that nasty grease, before degreasing they smell like a rotting carcass mixed with vomit.

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Not sure I’d fancy chomping on one either in that case

They are downright nasty. Takes alot of extra work preparing the pelts just from a smell perspective. I have seen them disapear into the body cavity of a liquifying deer and just hang out in there. I mean that deer was litterally melting into black tarry sludge, and the racoondog was rolling in it, chilling in the body, and drinking up the sludge.....

My guess is thats why their fat stinks so bad, even the fur stinks of death.

It does wash out tho.

I must commend the Op on his work ethic and general commitment to the task at hand. Its certainly not for the fainthearted or those on benefits!

Did a few fox pelts back in the day with paraffin & bicarbonate of soda but only good for short-lived rugs in the man cave or shed.

One did survive for 17-years on the top landing of our Victorian town house but only becuse it was seldom stepped on with other than bare feet.

K

Since the Welsh Organic Tannery stopped doing deer hides. If someone started this business in the Uk they would be booming. I had some lovely fox and deer recently, I’d happily pay to get done. Unfortunately it’s a dying skill and one which will be forgotten for the next generation.