One rancher that I trap on who's father used to harvest and finish a lot of coyotes said his dad used "clorox 2" to lighten coyotes. Anybody ever heard of using a bleach on coyotes?

I'm petty sure it would make the hair slip, but not sure...unless diluted a certain way.

That would lighten a coyote allright-when all the hair fell out.
Bleach is a strong alkali-destroys keratin which holds the hair in a raw skin.

I heard barkeeper's friend was good to use

I use Oxi Clean to remove any blood from the hide. It sure does a great job and It dosen't hurt the fur or the leather.

I also use straight bleach to remove green belly on critters. It doesn't hurt the leather or the fur.

Hydrogen peroxide is used in the taxidermy industry to whiten european skulls. It is better than bleach since it doesn’t damage the bone like bleach does. It may work on fur too. Might be worth checking out. Comes in gallons as well based on strength.

I use bleach when I wash all my coyote. But don't put it directly to fur. I run them thru washing machine but used to just add some to a 5 gallon bucket of water. Never had one slip from it. It will also stop green belly on snared coyote. When they come out of wash you won't know they had a green belly unless they were really bad going in. And those need to be fleshed and dried immediately!
I would have thought there would be tons of post on this one. Lots and lots of people I know wash in bleach water. With a wash machine I use bleach dog whitening shampoo and a bit of downie. They sure look purty when they come out.
If you just want to take blood out without a bunch of water hydrogen peroxide on a sponge will work well. It also neutralize skunk odor. You can buy it in livestock section.

I use only borax and cold water. A fur buyer I knew used downy fabric softener in the rinse cycle. Know a few guys that used peroxide for red bellied yotes. Makes the fur brittle is what I was told. Never used bleach.

That's what my Wyoming friend said yesterday while riding with me on my short line

hydrogen peroxide sure helps get the blood out ,complete with foaming action!

Thanks for everybody's input. Hope to get some more opinions.
Some of my trapped coyotes come from red dirt area's and can be awfully dirty and dark.

To me one of the best things you can do for a coyote is wash it in a washing machine. I ran up to seven in a load when I worked skinning and washed them in tide. That was before the day of all the fancy shampoo. Some bleach in a washing machine should not hurt them if it is not too strong. Just look at the water that come out on the first spin cycle and that will tell you what it is doing. I always ran them on a cold cycle.

Yep machine wash. A little bleach to kill bacteria may not hurt but forget about trying to bleach the fur a paler shade.

Chemicals and detergents used on raw fur leads to higher blowout percentage at the dressers.These looses to the end user get passed on to all trappers in lower offers for pelts to make up for blowout.

No chemicals or detergents are needed on raw fur.If you have muddy fur from live catches before freezeup,or an extreme amount of blood on fur from poor handling a rinse in cold water is all that is necessary.

If washing them wasn't making trappers money, some probably wouldn't be doing it. I bet they come out paler and silkier. Coyotes are filthy, even here.

Blowout at the dressers costs all trappers money in the end.Whether 5 10 or as high as 15% those costs to the end user get passed on to the trapper with lower offers for all skins..
All the dirt can be blown out of a skin with a compressor or shop vac.Also leaves the natural oils in the fur that gets removed with detergents.
Much less work(and expense) for the trapper than all the un-neccesary washing with detergents.
It makes no sense for trappers to go to extra work and expense that in the end harms the industry with lower offers on thecollection due to low confidence in the end product.

"Remember to clean any dirt or blood from the pelt using sawdust or wash it with cold water
and a mild soap."

The middleman.

Dirt or blood,or grease in a pelt is only an issue when it is so bad it prevents the grader from accurately evaluating a pelt.Method of trapping often dictates this.
Normal dry blood(turns to dust when brushed) or detritus in a fur out pelt is drummed out at the auction before grading.A trapper can blow that stuff out of a pelt with a shop vac or compressor if Selling to a middleman.Fur in pelts should be dried and brushed on the carcass.If there is dried blood dust or mud dust it can be blown out before skinning.
With water animals like beaver that are bloody or silted,can be rinsed at the catch site,fur dried before skinning and blown on the catcass or after they come off the boards.
Muddy coon,mink etc can be rinsed at the catch site,and blown on the carcass before put up.'
A brushed and blown pelt looks just as good and often better than a pelt that has been washed/ overhandled.

The more work you do,especially un necessary work and other overhandling means your bottom line is less-if your time counts in your calculation of profits.
Not all pelts need to be blown let alone washed. A brushing is often all that is necessary to present a pelt that can be properly evaluated by a grader.Any more than that and you are working for nothing.

Boco
As trapper we are against working for free. We will do it for a loss and not a dime less.

Cant turn a sows ear into a purse good way to damage a pelt and lose a buyers trust but guessing the outcome would be what the heck happened to this pelt.

What do the dressers use to "bleach" muskrat and coon? I had a bleached muskrat coat made for my wife that is beautiful. It's about the color of the background in this site, maybe a little lighter.

I love working with bleached coon.I think it looks terriffic.
The bleaching process for fur uses stuff like what women use to bleach their hair.it is done after the tanning so does not break down keratin-the keratin is already turned into leather at that point and the hair is set.
Bleaching and dying processes for fur are guarded trade secrets

i have an old washer in my shop. every piece of fur i get except for beaver, rats, and otters get a cold bath in washer on rinse cycle with a little fabric softener.

have had 2 fur buyers tell me whatever im doing to keep doing it.

Boco, you are the one bringing up coon and mink. We are talking coyotes, and washing them is a plus. Once you have put up two to three hundred coyotes in a week, let me know how that air compressor is working out for you.

Its a lot quicker than washing.Thats for sure.Do them right on the board before you pull them off after brushing.
No coyotes here but my wolves sure look good.

But if washing makes you feel better-keep on.But you are working for nothing.Very very few pelts need washed in order to be evaluated by a grader.

Clorox 2 did not have chlorine in it. It is no longer made.

Well,I wont be washing or blowing out 300 of anything in a week or a year.
Most all fur only needs a brushing and a flip.
You will never turn a 20 dollar pelt into a 60 dollar pelt,and a good pelt stands alone on its merit with basic handling.
Like anything else related to trapping the simpler you keep things the better.

It seems to still be for sale on a number of sites, but you are correct in that it's not a chlorine bleach. It's listed as a detergent, stain remover, color booster.

Washed, put up coyotes sell for more. It's worth the work.

I helped my fur buyer put up fur one day. He washed all the coyotes in strong bleach solution and ran them through old fashioned rollers. They came out very pale. No slippage. He says they always grade better bleached.

I will add that have tanned a small number a coyote and never had any slip.
And that lots of furbuyers will tell you that you don't need to wash or drum coyotes. That they can see thru all that and it all grades the same either way. But if you ever go to a state fur sale I can absolutely guarantee they pay more for well put up washed and drummed fur! Im not talking bout poor put up lots of good put up fur just brings average money. The top lots are quality fur with a high quality put up! MJM can attest to this.

Yup when combed they look great, some I wash 3-8 times, dirt n stuff
I use a wringer mop bucket to do mine

Bull.
I have won pretty much every wolf handling contest at FHA I ever entered.
My pelts were never washed and wolves are a much filthier animal than a coyote.
I know a few of the other guys submitted washed pelts,didnt do them any good.

Here is a brushed only dirty old wolf.



And here is a dirty old eastern coyote that was caught in a wolf snare and was alive and covered in dirt-again brushed and shook only.
I guarantee you washing would absolutely not change the grade.
I have a ton of put up fur pics-none washed I will put them up against any pic of a washed pelt.




Like I said-if it makes you feel good to wash pelts go ahead,but very very few pelts need washed to make them presentable to a competent grader.
Only pelts that have so much dirt,grease or blood actually caked into the underfur that wont brush out as dust when dried will need washed.And if you are getting a bunch of those you need to take a good look at your harvesting methods.

I'm not washing $2.00 coyotes to make them into $3.00 coyotes LOL

Beav,I wouldnt even skin one of those let alone wash one,lol.
And no need to wash the good ones-they pop all on their own if handled clean.

Nobody said washing yotes changes the grade. The grade is the grade. I certainly didn't. Calling bull on trappers that are doing it and have done it for years, childish.

I used to have a white dog. After a bath with soap, it was white again and much more silky.

"Coyote pelts are first sorted into categories based on the belly colour ( clarity)

Clear: These pelts have fur on the belly that is almost white. The underfur and guard hairs are clear and bright with no yellowish or brownish tint. Most pelts in this category are Western pelts; clear pelts are very rare in the Eastern section."

I've handled a few wolf pelts for our little local auction nearly all unwashed. I wear gloves and try to hold my breath. There is a -- 'dust'-- that comes off the wolves that is unclean... From dried excrement and urine at one end to moose sheep and caribou blood, guts and whatever other meal remnants worked in around the face, throat and belly, other dirt, pitch etc they come in contact with along the way and in the trap or snare not to mention the grease and blood from dispatch and handling etc, etc they are unclean for sure. The rare washed pelt definitely stands out. We probably handle 50 or more a year. Any cleaning; blowing, washing, drumming etc improves their appearance

Dirty pelts are dirty pelts.Some trappers are slobs and do a poor job on their fur-that is why every trappers pelts get drummed at the auction before grading,the majority pay for the few.Same with skins blown out in the dressing from harsh alkaline chemicals(like bleach) affecting the outcome.All trappers lose out to cover that loss. .
Bottom line-there are lots of ways to clean a pelt that are way less time consuming and labour intensive and much less risky to the end product than washing with chemicals,detergents etc that also removes the natural oils from the fur when used in excess.Cats are especially prone to losing their natural oils from even small amounts of detergent and should never be washed in my opinion unless extremely bloody or greasy.(which is caused by the trapper/handler in the first place).
Washing is not necessary for the vast majority of pelts-wolves included.
Overhandling of fur costs the trapper in the end.
Keep things simple and your operation efficient.
As you can see you can get a top quality product without going thru the extra time effort and expense to wash.

My hair looks and feels better after washing

Boco u should just us a shop vac only for a year on ur hair to prove to these guys how clean ur hair will stay

Getting deep! I'm pretty sure the Auctions drum fur so they can grade it. Stuff gets pretty ugly when it is all compressed and ship to an Auction.

Yes when it is dirty and greasy from poor handling.
I have fur compressed in the freezer for a year,and when taken out it puffs right back up immediately.
Fur is drummed at the auction to clean it(why they use hair sheen and water in the drum media).
Here is a few taken out the bottom of the freezer that were crushed for a good long time.Puff right back up when flipped.
None ever seen a wash.

On a sidenote-washing heavy fox often causes the underfur to matt-a severe downgrade because it cannot be reversed in the dressing.


Go ahead-keep washing your fur,but dont preach it results in better fur than well handled fur that has never been washed.

I can assure you, as Kyle Krebs said every coyote that has made a top lot at the NDFTA sale was washed. I am sure, because I spoke to the trappers about it. We have guys that don't wash or take care of fur too, and the price shows it. I washed 1000's of coyotes and fox when I skinned for a living. That was what the fur room wanted. I am sure if there was a better way, they would of had me do it. There isn't a lot of work to washing coyotes, you just throw them in the washing machine and turn it on. Once it shuts off, you take them out and throw another load in. They sold a lot of fur directly to manufactures and if there was a problem with blow outs they would have heard about it. Fur is bought on eye appeal, so anything you can do to make it look better is a plus. No one has said washing makes fur better, it cleans the fur.

As you can see all fur does not need washing to be top lot.In fact very little fur needs washing at all if a trapper is not a slob in harvesting and handling.If it did the auction houses would wash it and I can guarantee you their land fur is better looking than fur that has been washed.There is way too much time and expense involved in washing fur-And not as nice a product as drummed.
That is why no ranch pelts are ever washed nor any wild pelts that go thru big international auctions.I have never seen washing machines at the auction house,lol.
Too risky for the end product and no advantage at all and extra uneccesary expense.

Its the same with the borax crap-not necessary (and risky in the dressing)-just lazy lumps trying to fix poor initial handling by taking shortcuts.

Boco, if you trapped Indiana in December I can guarantee you'd be washing your pelts. Heck, you've probably never even seen a cocklebur up there in syrupland. I'll bet our mud is deeper than your snow right now.

Stick your head in a fur drum and see if your hair comes out nice and clean with a nice sheen to it.

There is always a percentage of pelts that get blown out in the dressing-for any number of reasons-some are caused by the tannery,others not.
A dressing plant that is learning how to dress,pluck and shear beaver can have over 10 percent blowout or unacceptable product,especially when training workers initially.
After a time the best dressers will have under 2% blowout due to the tannery.
Wild fur at an established dresser handling large amounts of fur from the international auctions will have around 5 % blowout.It is often unknown what causes it.It is the result of lots of different issues,a lot from poor initial fur handling that escapes the eye of the graders,since it doesnt show up til during or after dressing.
One problem that was identified by the dressers and was passed on to the auction house and producers was the use of wire stretchers on fur out pelts.
pelts turned too early on wire stretchers had two strips of fur slip down each side of the pelt from not drying properly when in contact with the wire.
Use of alkali chemicals on raw fur especially harsh ones like bleach often cause adverse effects in the dressing .It is unprovable in a big dressing plant handling intersorted bundles of fur.
As a home tanner myself I know what alkali does to the keratin in a skin.An animal that is borderline spoiled when processed by the fur handler may look fine when dry,but will have problems in the rehydration soak.

Definitely would be a lot of work to wash put up fur at an auction.

Boco, I realize you have never or will ever admit there might possibly be other options that are required that don’t duplicate your standards. (I am much the same). Which are, by the way, very high and rightfully so, judging by your beautiful pelts that you have shown us over the years. But in all honesty, in much of the upper USA, where most of our “good” coyotes come from, many of us are dealing with muddy messes that simply look terrible if not washed up some. I realize you are blessed with cold and snow earlier so many of the catches in Canukland do not have to battle such issues. Down here many of us do, and there is a definite difference between washed and unwashed. It is something many of us hang out hats on, to supply our buyers or FHA the nicest appearing product we can. Simply rinsing a muddied up matted dog doesn’t cut it. We are blessed to have you and your wisdom here, it is a treasure trove of info, but we all have different variables we have to deal with. What works for you and your region may not work for me in mine is all some of us are trying to establish. We can all have opinions, that’s a great thing!!! Right. Like you possibly Boco, I am fairly bull headed, just ask my wife sometime!! Hope you all have a wonderful New Year. Let’s keep this learning from a variety of areas going, no one ever suffered from gained knowledge or perspective.

LOL good post TC1.
I am not diagreeing that some pelts need washed.
But not all even when live caught.

There is no alternative to washing a pelt that has excessive blood mud or grease down in the underfur.
But the vast majority I would say dong fit that criteria.
Surface dirt blood and mud can be dried,brushed and blown out with air.

And dont forget one of the ten commandments-good fur handling starts with your choice of location for sets.

I do enjoy a good debate,there are always alternatives.

Just pointing out that washing pelts is not always the best or only alternative for a lot of skins.

I wish I was closer to put up a couple of dirty coyotes.

One other important point-there is always risk when you soak a raw fur pelt.The more times it gets soaked the higher the risk of problems.You are kicking it down the line one more notch.
All dried pelts get soaked at the dressers and this is the step which is riskiest in that process also.

Saying FHA doesn't wash fur is kind of a no brainer, since it is stretched and dried when they get it. Coyotes in the US are washed before they are stretched and dried. So what FHA does with put up fur does not really mean much here. Other than they drum all the coyotes, even though some don't need it. Kind of like washing them all, even if some don't need it. What you do with your fur will not work every where.

Big waste of time effort and money.They will be in lots with unwashed fur for the international buyers-same grade and same price.
Very few pelts if any will be washed in an intersort.
You can see rack after rack after rack of beautiful pristine coyotes at the auction none if any ever been washed.

Wash'em if you want more for your skins.

You may be surprised how many wash coyotes in the US even when they ship them to the Auction house. If it was as bad as you seem to think, one would think the auctiob house would advise against it. It is taught in the coyote put up demos here.

I have no doubt. And they go in the same lots with countless unwashed and dont look any different,and dont bring a cent more.

Anyone with the cognitive horsepower to tie his own shoes, knows washed coyotes avg higher than the unwashed masses.


Well, anyone with real life experience knows this.



Now , if you live on a keyboard in the Canuck hinterland the fundamentals may escape ya.



















That, or you were born with a peanut in your head.

No wonder you are always complaing of losing money on the fur market-you waste a lot of it doing un necessary stuff.
Lots of top lot fur over the last 40 years-none washed.
Waste of time and money.
A competent grader knows what fur is.
You cant turn a 50 dollar pelt into a 80 dollar pelt no matter how much you wash it.
But you probably think you can because of YOUR peanut brain.

I think whether to wash or don't wash was what started that War of 1812 that we won

I use a small shot of dawn soap is all on the ones that need washed.
And rub borax in if it's still stained, let it dry and brush out.
They clean right up

Marty have you bought a few coyotes? Like thousands?

I have sold coyotes for quite a few years. Auction every year and privately every year. I am lucky to live in Saskatchewan and have some good genetics. I foothold for a few weeks every year then move to power rams. Most of my coyotes are caught in snow conditions. They are very clean and don’t need to be washed. My coyotes have always been graded very good. I have always had a bunch of coyotes in the top ten lots,and spread all over down the lot numbers.
Have I had a top lot heavy western coyote? Yes I have, unwashed and all. Genetics play a huge roll in what they sell for. That being said I’ve seen a lot of pictures of the mud balls people post on here and yes I would absolutely wash them.

If I have a little blood on a coyote I have a spray bottle with a mixture of 1/4 bleach and 3/4 water. Spray it on the coyote(hanging by the back feet) and the blood drips off the tips of the hair. Give it a quick wipe and the coyotes dry. After he coyotes completely dry I give it a quick rubdown with borax. Takes a little staining out of the belly’s and crotch area. Shake all the borax out of it and is ready to sell.

I’ve sold 1000s of coyotes. Sold 100 to the same person for the last 8 years and he keeps coming back so they must be clean enough.

All unwashed but do what works for you.

That looks like a Yes , from Saskatchewan.

Back in the late 70's I worked for a short time at the Seattle Fur Exchange. A big bunch of coyotes were brought in by a trapper from Montana. He had bleached all of them, it looked like he used a pretty strong solution of bleach and water. They would have been great coyotes without the bleach, but the bleach was so strong it turned all the dark guard hairs a reddish colour. I don't know what they sold for, but I'm pretty sure they would have brought more money if he hadn't bleached them.

Here right now it is 42° Fahrenheit and drizzling. It has drizzled for a few days. Any land animal caught will be at least muddy, and some are mudballs. A Coon can be nearly unrecognizable (to most people) and carry about 5 pounds of mud. That is what trapping is like here in he fall, usually not this late.
Rinse out in a watering trough at least before bringing them in.

Here is an example of a guy in Kansas putting up coyotes. I'm not endorsing anything in this video. However, it appears throwing 3 coyotes in a washer and then pulling them out and putting them on a fur hanger to dry takes little labor and time. It starts at about 12 minutes in to 15 minutes of the video. It took him( labor wise) probably max 5 minutes to clean 3 pelts. It appears to be an efficient way to clean pelts. IMHO

I always like this topic when it comes up every year. I'm a wash guy. Maybe it helps, maybe not, but they sure look much better to me. I used to only wash the "real dirty" coyotes the "needed" washing, until I saw how good they looked when they were done. Then once I got set up to do it right, with a washer and dryer, it actually became easier just to do them all, and not worry about which ones needed it or not. You'd be surprised how much dirt comes out of a coyote that appeared to be pretty clean. And they all smell a whole lot better. Do buyers pay more for clean coyote that look nice? I guess it depends on who you ask.

You dont have to wash them to clean them.

I know guys that just drum or other variety of choses they have to clean fur I wash coyotes ,cats and fox if I have too.

i always wash, the spin cycle in the washing machine has amazing effect fluffing up the fur. if i was washing out of sink or 5 gallon bucket i would only sport wash or not at all..use only cold water in washing or they can slip if water to warm.

Im going with Boco I use a death ray to dispatch no blood, often there is mud and dust and dung but once its dried comes out easy even the little bit of blood turns to dust. On shot coyotes or extremely muddy critters like coon I hose them off just so they are easier to work with. I have had more than my share of compliments and top lot furs at state auctions and international. I have also sold for years to traveling buyers and have not had one complaint on my put up. Lee's death ray is a wonder tool, even better than a 22 short. As far as the bleaching and peroxide when I was much younger a trapping partner and I tried to peroxide out the milk stains on a couple of female cats and couple coyotes. First mistake was doing more than one critter on the test drive. Our experiment ruined to cats and 3 coyotes with tawny bellis. Yeah they got a bit whiter and turned all the black spots brown. After we got them boarded hair started slipping. I mixed up a bunch of skunk cleaner one time with the hydrogen peroxide, dish soap and baking soda. Had about six skunks as I remember and put them in a pale and mixed up about 6 qts of the scent off and left them for the afternoon. All the black hair was brown but they smelled good. Talk to Greg Schroder at Fur Harvesters about washing coyotes the buyers complain all the natural oil goes out of them.
I will say well put of fur shows every defect which buyers like.