Would phosphoric acid work as well as citric acid? As long as the ph was between 1 and 2?

I dont know,never tried it.
I know citric acid is safe to work with.
Its easily obtainable at the bulk barn,people use it as a food preservative when canning fruit.
Should be able to get it anywhere they sell food canning jars and preservatives.

Thanks for this tutorial. I've got a fisher in the freezer I was thinking of trying to do as well as a couple coyote hide that were damaged. I was thinking of trying to turn them into something usable and this really helps. Where do you get the aluminum sulfate?

Aluminum sulphate can be found at gardening centers that carry soil amendments and fertilizers.

Excellent post. Thanks for taking the time to share your process.

insomnia last night so i went back through and took notes.

Hi Boco,

After the hide comes out of the 4 day tan, you said "Once the leather is dry I give the entire skin a wash in dish soap and water,making sure I wash the tanning oil out of the fur.Then rinse well and wring the skin out in a towell."

Is there any concern with washing out the "Tan"?

I've been tanning using EZ-100. Would I be able to wash these hides after tanning and oiling?

Boco has won a free vacation, you won't hear from him until he returns, might be awhile.

A quick wash after oiling and drying wont hurt them at all.If you let them soak for a long time it wouldnt be good for the leather.
Most tans call for a neutralizing wash right when they come out of the tanning solution,or at least a rinse,I just dry them and work them first.Basically postponing that step.Soap is an alkali so when you give it a wash it is basically doing the same thing as a neutralizing wash,or rinse.Make sure you rinse out the soap well after washing.Also the second light oiling is important also.

Boco your back we all thought you were dead

now behave yourself bubba,your too much fun and have more knowledge than most on here.

Thanx Boco!!!!

I'm about to tan 7 coons, 2 grinners and an otter. That should use up my current supplies. The next batch will be using your method.

Thank you again for all the knowledge you provide.

Can you use solar salt instead of table salt? Can't find bulk bags around me

I dont use table salt.You can use pickleing salt-it is food grade but coarser and no iodine additive like table salt.Sometimes called kosher salt.Sold in grocery stores.
If you are doing a lot of tanning you can buy haying salt-it is basically finer crushed rock salt.Thats the most inexpensive way to go.
Rock salt is no good-its too coarse.
I dont know what solar salt is.

The salt that Boco mentions, Hay salt, and the salt Dirtydogtrapping mention, Stock salt are the same. Available at any feed store. Just be sure and get Non-Minerailized. It is white. The Mineralized stock salt is red. The minerals in the red salt will get in the pores/cells of the leather and block the tanning chemicals from entering.

Would I need to do any thing different with salted hides.

Just relax the salted/salt dried hides same as dried hides and proceed from there.
Be extra careful bending or folding salt dried hides they will crack and damage the leather.Best to dampen them first before bending or folding.

This is a great post. I am going try this on some coon and fox that I kept. Do you leave the thinner skinned critters in the pickle for the same amount of time?



I can't seem to find this one. Is this for conditioning the leather? Is there another oil that would work? When I search for hide tanning oil I get the orange bottle stuff and hide tanning kits.

Should be some tanning oil available from one of the places that supply tanning chemicals like rittels.

I think this has been asked here before but were can I find the aluminum sulfate and the washing soda what department in a store I have looked every where.