I just put up first hides and it was terrible. I caught two nice red fox, let the female go. I skinned the male about 4hrs after harvest and shampooed and conditioned fur, combed and rebutted. Dried overnight outside, fleshed and stretched. When hide was dry I turned right side out and it tore like paper and fur on tail was falling out in chucks. It hurt to think I did all this just to throw it away. I thought maybe it was from shampoo so I did a possum rinsed mud off whole animal,skinned about 4hrs after harvest fleshed and turned right side out just to see globs of hair falling out. I put both animals in garbage bags after kill till skinning time maybe 50 degrees. I really feel bad about this. Any ideas? THANKS. PS I also did some coons same as fox but roles up inside out and froze. Are they junk too?

Did you split the tail and dry the fur before boarding?
Why did you wash the pelts?Were they muddy?
Putting wet pelts in plastic is a recipe for disaster.
Soap is alkali and will destroy keratin(that is what holds the hair in the skin).
NEVER wash pelts unless absolutely necessary.

What "Boco" said.

I just experienced my first fur slippage ever. Had a nice coyote that I didn't get skinned in time due to work. T
I have left them a day before but with this warm weather he blew up like a balloon in a day. I skinned it anyway because it was nice but when I went to flip I ended up with a handful of fur. Won't ever waste time like that again. Better yet I will just be late for work next time cuz I hate waste.

The possum was just rinsed off. Yes tail was split and hide was dried overnight before fleshing and boarding. Could it be being in the plastic bags for 4hrs? I looked up videos on you tube and they are washing in washing machines. I did it to get burrs out easier. I pull out lots of hair with brush(comb). I've been letting everything go and not resetting traps as rifle deer season opens Sunday.

Yes re putting in plastic bags,for any lenght of time, was the basic problem regardless of washing which I do not reccomend either. As "Boco" said, "Putting wet pelts in plastic is a recipe for disaster."

There is a lot of real bad info on you tube.

Moisture and heat are a perfect recipe for growing bacteria. Plastic bags hold moisture and heat.

Other posts have given you very good advice.

In my opinion, you are overthinking the process of putting up fur. KISS principle should apply.

Keep at it and you will figure it out.