Either you didn't salt them properly, or you didn't de-flesh them well enough before salting.
Roe deer's hide as a throw?
- Thread starter Omega
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I used to send a lot of skins for tanning in the late 90s and early 00s. I only ever sent newly in summer coat or newly in winter coat so that the skins did not "slip" - shed hair. None of the skins from British derby species are durable for use as hide - slipper uppers are about the extent of it and significantly less durable than sealskin - cf with Norwegian sealskin slippers. We used to salt the skins more or less instantly after skinning and then put them under the blast freezer in order to get them very cold very quickly. Even though we gave the skins to the tannery (they bought the salt) they went out of business after not very long.
As @VSS says that looks more like slippage due to not being prepped properly as opposed to change in coat
So, I should remove more flesh from the skin (I thought I did as I did not leave meat on at all) and how long should I salt it? I salted the skins immediately and send the skins after 2 weeks. Used very fine table salt
I would salt for about 2 weeks but I would change the salt halfway through and also have it slightly raised to allow juices to run off. You also want a fair old amount of salt on it, I don't use very fine and our for the more granulated size, not sure if it makes a difference or not. You'd also want to keep it as cool as possible to prevent bacteria growth which would create hair slippage. And I was before salting( after fleshing) amd again after salting though that's when I do it all myself
Sol
Well-Known Member
Did you leave the hide on the deer for several days prior to skinning?
What was the temps outside when you started to salt?
Airflow?
Humidity?
Long as the back side of the skin was white with faint bits of red you would of been fine to start salting
However with how fine grain your salt is Its entirely possible if you were dealing with humid air you were attracting more moisture to the hide, larger grain is usually used for taxidermy.
Animal feed salt is great Its a bit bigger grained. (less surface area) also incredibly cheap.
Dont be discouraged Its something I'm learning at the moment, hopefully something I can take on in a few years time.
I personally wouldn't be dealing with salted skins though there's way too many variables, Frozen shipped over night better to get it into the hands of someone that has knowledge around it.
What was the temps outside when you started to salt?
Airflow?
Humidity?
Long as the back side of the skin was white with faint bits of red you would of been fine to start salting
However with how fine grain your salt is Its entirely possible if you were dealing with humid air you were attracting more moisture to the hide, larger grain is usually used for taxidermy.
Animal feed salt is great Its a bit bigger grained. (less surface area) also incredibly cheap.
Dont be discouraged Its something I'm learning at the moment, hopefully something I can take on in a few years time.
I personally wouldn't be dealing with salted skins though there's way too many variables, Frozen shipped over night better to get it into the hands of someone that has knowledge around it.
Salt it for a few days (needs at least 5kg salt per hide) then chuck that salt away and re-salt for a couple of weeks. Then chuck that salt away, apply another light dusting of salt, fold the skin flesh side in, roll up and store.
Any fat (and to a slightly lesser degree, meat) left on the hide will prevent the salt penetrating to the skin.
Use feed grade vacuum salt from your local agricultural merchants. It comes in 25kg sacks.
For best results, it would be ideal to skin the animal as soon as it was shot, and salt the hide immediately. In practice, it doesn't really work like that with deer. If you're hanging carcasses in-skin for up to a week before butchering, and you want to use the hides, then you'll need your chiller running pretty low (under 3deg, but never below zero).
If you ship unsalted hides to a tannery - even if they're frozen - they're most likely to ship them straight back to you, accompanied by a rude letter and a bad smell.
They can't be unpacking and salting everyone's consignment immediately upon delivery. It might be several days (or longer) before they have time to start work on your hides, so they rely on you having cured them properly first.
The hides are from October (came up good, it was 5 months old animal), February and May (they had sheds), I salted them immediately after skinning, left in my garage. No idea of the temperature, humidity etc
I definitely skinned the October one much better, but the tannery told me as long as I do not leave pieces of meat thicker than a thumb, then I should be ok. Therefore, I skinned other hides not as carefully. However, I do not think I left anywhere pieces of meat thicker than quarter of an inch. Even then, they were quite small pieces, not inches long, maximum one square inch surface
Next time, I will follow advice of VSS
The Welsh Tannery accepts only salted skins, no row ones. I did not manage to find anyone else in the UK... There is a tannery that makes skins. However, I do not know what I would do with a skin though have a muntjac's hide at the moment (Welsh Tannery won't accept it as they said they cannot guarantee the quality)
They did a trial run with a muntjac hide from me, and apparently it was a bastard to work with! Hence why.
I did a muntjac using the orange trappers formula and it turned out pretty good. As its small it's worth giving it a go yourself
Can I buy "orange trappers formula"? I don't want making it.
Sol
Well-Known Member
Yeah well aware VSS, I'd like to get into the tanning side of it personally frozen ship is all I would accept regarding deer skin there super unforgiving.
All my friends at the moment receive there capes through domestic mail 24hr with an icepack or two, hides frozen prior to shipping, It works well though certian holidays you've got to keep In mind like shipping anything in December Is a big no-no.
I just feel like there's way too much that can go wrong regarding capes and hides Its why the organic tannery stopped it, Its just too much risk for reward doing salted skins (but) they cant handle the influx of raw skins either.
All my friends at the moment receive there capes through domestic mail 24hr with an icepack or two, hides frozen prior to shipping, It works well though certian holidays you've got to keep In mind like shipping anything in December Is a big no-no.
I just feel like there's way too much that can go wrong regarding capes and hides Its why the organic tannery stopped it, Its just too much risk for reward doing salted skins (but) they cant handle the influx of raw skins either.
Yeah I got it off amazon, you can also get the snowdonia company K-tan ones
Just saw several videos on YouTube where people use pressure washer to flesh hides
I checked a website and it looks like pressure of 1600 psi (typical Karcher) should work
www.taxidermy.net
Has anyone tried using pressure washer to flesh hides and typical ones like Karcher?
I checked a website and it looks like pressure of 1600 psi (typical Karcher) should work
Foremost authority on pressure washing skins
Who is it or who are they? And where can I get in touch with them and do they ever use the skins for braintanning??? I've been using the 1650 and 2400...
www.taxidermy.net
Yes I used one fory fallow hide
www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk
Fallow buck hide in progress
As mentioned on another thread I've been using one of the snowdonia tanking kit's in an attempt to tan a fallow buck hide that I thought was quite nice. The hide went straight into the freezer after I skinned the deer, fast forward a month or 2 I took it out and defrosted just enough to be able...
www.thestalkingdirectory.co.uk
Do you think 1600 psi pressure will work on hides? Because I only found one source saying it is enough, most say 3000+ PSIYes I used one fory fallow hide
Fallow buck hide in progress
As mentioned on another thread I've been using one of the snowdonia tanking kit's in an attempt to tan a fallow buck hide that I thought was quite nice. The hide went straight into the freezer after I skinned the deer, fast forward a month or 2 I took it out and defrosted just enough to be able...
I think most would work, mine isn't particularly powerful, not sure what it is but it was only a cheap one, just may mean you have to work it a little more. Lay the hide over an edge (chair, bin etc) and then the weight of it will also aid with the pressure washer
Just saw several videos on YouTube where people use pressure washer to flesh hides
I checked a website and it looks like pressure of 1600 psi (typical Karcher) should work
Has anyone tried using pressure washer to flesh hides and typical ones like Karcher?Foremost authority on pressure washing skins
Who is it or who are they? And where can I get in touch with them and do they ever use the skins for braintanning??? I've been using the 1650 and 2400...
Yes, I use a pressure washer to do mine.
I just pressure wash part of my concrete yard first to get it nice and clean, lay the skin on that, and blast away at full pressure.
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