According to the latest fur fish game fur market report, borax on your furs is a no no. I've personally never used it in spite of some pretty good trappers recommending it. I always figured it messed with the ph of pickles during the tanning process. It might prevent problems for the trapper but cause problems at the tannery, like naked pelts.

I assume their speaking of borax on the leather side? I haven't seen buyers discount for it on fur out critters. I know I'm not the only one that boraxes so I don't have to flip the fur out furs.

Strange, I've had pelts tanned where I've used it liberally on the leather side and everything always has been fine. Any tannery worth it's salt should make sure their PH is always right on by testing and/or adjusting
I've also used it on the fur side to clean blood etc...
I'll have to read the article my FFG just arrived today

According to the report a bunch of high dollar bobcat slipped because of the flesh side being boraxed fresh. I assume they were using it to skip the flip.

When I'm gonna tan the pelt myself ill sometimes use salt, especially in the ears on canines. It's just insurance.
I got a beaver hide to "fix" once that had been heavily boraxed and kept for years. I couldn't do anything with it except clean up the fur. The leather had no stretch.

Some guys think it is a substitute for fleshing. It's not. A well fleshed hide, with all fat removed, won't slip

Maybe that's what happened with the high end cats that slipped.

They probably used borax to buy some time for an existing issue……taint. That hair was going to slip no matter what.

Think you hit it on the head, I've been using little bit on armpits for long time
If I remember correctly a fur buyer is the one that told me that

I could buy that explanation. Also if too much faith was put in the borax and the drying room conditions were subpar.

Amen

I don't buy this either. It had to be a different issue. I have aggressively used borax on the feet of several animals that I had tanned and none have had any slipping issues. One i tanned myself and the others were sent to a tannery. Also, last year I used some borax on the hide side of my badgers as I turned them and put them back on the boards to try to reduce the chance of molding between the board and the hide that had been an issue for me in the past. They sold for the most I have ever gotten at the FHA auction in March last year. I didn't try to hide it and the graders should have been able to see it.

Schmattz

high humidity here. helps a bunch if dusted on and around the face of yotes and cats. I do not skip the flip an still feel it is necessary to use borax.

High humidity here too which is why I use fans and dehumidifiers in an insulated enclosed drying room.

boraxx is the problem ...skip the flip is, sometime pelt wont dry properly taking to long to dry

I have used it without issues.

You can watch and adjust the PH on a pickle solution. It's not rocket science.

The only time I have used it and very sparingly is if I have a light green belly coyote.

I use it on red fox armpits, ears and heads (leather side) so I can flip a little sooner. I’ve used it to dry blood on the fur side so it could be brushed out. Never had any issues.

Like anything else used properly works properly