There have been some spectacular pictures this year of very well handled coyotes and now price information is bearing out that well handled (super nice appearing) fur garners enviable prices. Quite frankly, my “good enough” no longer appears good enough anymore. Tumbling skinned fur, to remove blood and dirt, does make a difference.

My coyotes have been shipped and I’m not in a position to do this —— or I’d try it myself.

Would someone who tumbles coyotes in a dryer, please put a yote or two in a heavy duty plastic bag, with tumble media, and see if this adequately cleans the yote? And doesn’t spew tumble media all over the inside of the dryer?
And, if someone has already done this, would you please give us your results?

I can see a possible business opportunity here for tumbling bags. Wives and significant others don’t like their dryers covered in foreign particles. (Can’t blame them at all). If heavy duty plastic bags or big pillow cases work, there’s the possibility more $$ will be available to fur harvesters in the future.

Thanks in advance!!

Doesn’t work. Its a disaster in the making and potential fire hazard. No matter how well you think its sealed, the tumbling media WILL leak out.

Most dryers can tumble on a cool setting, no heat. Maybe someone else will have tried this and respond.

I dont tumble my fur but do run it through a short cycle in washing machine with some detergent. Hang nose down and back brush while on stretcher will make them fluff up and look pretty nice if tumbling isnt an opion. Also store nose down when off stretcher.

Here, modify and tumble until your heart is content.
https://www.harborfreight.com/1-1-4-quarter-cubic-ft-compact-cement-mixer-91907.html

Seth, do you scrape first and then wash and hang to dry (and turn). Or skin, wash, then scrape, put on stretcher and turn after leather dries?

Right now I brush out well, skin, scrape, put on stretcher fur side out with a significant wedge. Then take off when the leather is dry. My usual buyer does it this way too.

M.Magis, you sound like you’ve had experience. Tell us more.

If I had a place like a shed or workshop for a dryer.... I would get an old dryer from someone that wanted to get a new one. If the heating coil still worked, all you have to do is disconnect it. In most all cases the fan or blower still blow cold air and the motor still turns the drum and I believe that is all you would need. When I was thinking about doing it, I thought that if you glue heavy burlap to the drum on the inside and throw some saw dust or find shaving in there, that would work fine. Since I didn't have access to saw dust or shavings, I could buy redwood mulch and put some of that in there.

BUT... I have NO ROOM.... all of my skinning and fleshing takes place, in very small, over crowded basement. So someone else will have to try it.

Garry-

Wife doesn’t like the smell of drying pelts in our basement. My partner’s shop is full of his stuff and our stuff with little room for a dryer or mixer. I like the idea of gluing burlap to the inside of a dryer. Now I just need a place to put one.

Teacher I don't tumble fur so not much help there. However, you want a bag for tumbling, I have a possible answer.

There is an at home dry cleaning product called Dryel. I used to use it when I forgot to drop off my dry cleaning.

It comes with a bag to put your "dry cleaning only" clothes in you add the "dryer sheet" in the bag and zip it closed toss in the dryer. I am sure the bag that comes in the package would work great for tumbling fur and the media. If not, your out $10.

I did try it years ago, no matter what I ended up with sawdust where it shouldn’t be, like around the motor. Didn’t take me long to scrap that idea. The cement mixer is the safer choice.

Use to tumble wet rats and mink in an old gas dryer with no gas hooked up of course. We would put old clothes and rags in with them. No grit or saw dust or anything like that. They would come out nice and fluffy and dry. Eventually you had to change out the rags as they just got too dirty. Not sure how it would work with yotes.

Here's ours we built.

I don't think a dryer will give you much lift or drop with coyotes to really get them clean and fluffed up. This one we built was made out of a single sheet of plywood so it's a 4' diameter, this works with the space we have and works well on coyotes.

Here's my method for coyote and coon. First if they're a mud ball I'll hit them with the garden hose. Once their skinned out I hang them then check for burrs. Then they go in the washer for a rinse cycle and hung up over night to dry under a fan. Rolled up tail to nose with a loop of string around the nose and in the freezer. When I'm ready to put up I hang them up by the string the night before with a fan and the next morning they're thawed enough to flesh and board. If I have a bad smelling dog I will wash them with my scent killer wash soap for hunting clothes then rinse. It wont' take it all out but it puts a pretty good dent in it. If a person did not have room for a dryer inside I don't see why you couldn't put one up on a few pallets to keep it off the ground and tarp it up good outside and just run a drop cord to it when needed. Here's a couple of pictures of what I put up this year. If I get another one I will take pics before and after for you
J

For what its worth, the last three years at the ND Fur Takers sale the top lot coyotes have not been drummed. I am not trying to say drumming doesn't help. I am saying it is not required and drumming will not put fur on them. Take your coyotes when they prime, and clean them up. Prime is more of a factor than drummed.

Y,all are missing the dynamic of putting a fur into a bag and sealing it yet want all of the bad to stay off the fur, LOL

Does not work like that,, the whole idea of drumming is to remove and get the bad away from the fur in a free fall, not keep it inside a bag and have it make the pelt worse !!

This is why you see such large diameter drums for doing so, small ones like home dryers don't have enough lift for the fur to break open to get that fluff, on some small furs it can do a decent job, but even then its not comparable to actual drumming.

Your best bet is to rinse dirty fur in a clothes softener hang to drip dry and snap it a couple times then lightly brush it out to finish it, if you have no means to a large drum. You will be surprised what a little softener will do to a pelt.

The thought behind the bag was to keep the wife’s dryer free of hair, cleaning grit and whatever. I see the value of lift and drop now that you’ve pointed it out.