Hi! I've got a couple of questions about the progress of a hide I am tanning, I don't think any of it is super critical, but I'd love to get answers and maybe solutions if at all possible!
For context- this is my fourth hide! last spring I tanned two fox hides to marginal success, they are not rotting and the fur is intact and have no smell, but I beleive that the lack of pickling step(I had not yet created my own method and was at the time only following orange bottle instructions) had led to them being not white like normal, and they are fairly greasy still(not oily, just, not clean and dry like a proper tan). This past summer I also tanned a fallow deer hide, which with the addition of a pickling step resulted ina good solid tan with a white, suede finish after I sanded it. its not as flexible as I would have liked but this was due to me getting tired of breaking it and giving in too easily.
This hide is a red deer stag, and is the largest thing I've ever tanned obviously, and seemed to go off without a hitch, but as I'm in the last stage now I'm noticing a couple of things that are causing a little bit of concern.
Number 1: Soap in the fur
After pickling and neutralizing the hide I washed it and the fur with dish soap(an unnessescary step I am aware, but last spring it made the fox hides clean and fluffy, so i figured i'd repeat it with the deer) and spent about 45 minutes just rinsing out the soap due to the thickness of the fur. the water and the hide were running clear with no visible soap bubbles by the end of it, so I hung it to dry and assumed it was sufficiently rinsed. Lo and behold, I notice after I've put the tanning solution on and had it drying for a couple days, that there is still soap in the fur. Not tons, and not in the whole hide, but there are still some patches where it is distinctly soapy.
My question is, is this going to do anything crazy like deteriorate the hide? At this point I can't really soak it I'm pretty sure, but I figure I could probably do my best to brush it out and spot clean it with a damp rag after its fully dry.
any advice on this is greatly appreciated.
Number 2: dark patches??
So the hide has been drying for a few days now, and as it has been, there are a couple sections that have darkened dramatically. now, part of this may be due to the way the hide was positioned when the tanning solution was initially applied- these sections were slightly elevated at about a 45 degree angle and maybe have not absorbed the solution quite as well, so i'm thinking about slightly rewetting them and reapplying the solution. any thoughts are appreciated- they do not smell like rot or anything gross, so i'm pretty sure they are just drying without tanning, but i'm not sure.
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https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachme...4325255efd54d9cd3261be3f65fbec512fc&[/img]
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https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachme...eed86d16acb314baea5eeac72ea691caa27&[/img]
Number 3: Ticks causing slippage?
there are two patches on the hide where hair is not properly falling out, but the skin seems slightly shredded and separated. these patches are the interiors of the thighs, and though i had cut a good bit away, they were and still are thick with ticks i have yet to fully remove. a cursory googling supplied me with the information that this is likely slippage caused by ticks irritating the folicles and the deer itself rubbing to get rid of them, and I just wanted to confirm that this is what it looks like is happening- it is not occuring anywhere else on the hide so i have to assume this is the reason?
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https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachme...6dd1eafabb38245cac4702f9901db497131&[/img]
thank you for reading, and ANY advice or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!!
(edit: the images don't seem to be working properly, but they seem to function as links so hopefully that is okay!)
