I've used BOCO's tanning method on about a dozen furs of various species (bobcat, fisher, beaver, coon, coyote, and one hair-off deer skin). The leather has always turned out great, but I sometimes have issues getting the tanning oil completely off the fur. I'm currently working on cleaning five beaver and cannot get the oil residue out of the underfur.
I always wash with dish soap after applying the oil and letting the fur dry over a few days, per BOCO's instructions. On a couple furs, I had leftover tanning oil residue that I was able to remove by washing with dish soap a second time. However, I'm at my wits end with my current batch of beaver furs. Below is everything I've done to the batch so far:
- Re-washed with dish soap and thoroughly rinsed with a hose three times (stretched/worked and allowed to fully dry each time);
- "Dry washed" with borax and blown out with my air compressor (zero improvement);
- Heavily sprayed with mineral spirits, combed in, and towel dried;
- Tumbled for 20 minutes with clean corn cob media;
- Tumbled for 20 minutes with corn cob media with some laundry detergent in the media;
- I've reapplied a 1:1 tanning oil/water with a paint brush after the third dish soap washing because all of the washing pulled out the original tanning oil from the leather. I use a brush to keep the oil off the fur.
- The only kind of tanning oil I've ever used is NuTan.
The furs look great and feel fine, but they leave a greasy residue on your hands if you run your fingers through the underfur.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
On a separate note (I guess a related note because I'm getting real tired of working these beaver hides over and over as the dry), any thoughts on using a light coat of neatsfoot oil to soften the leather? I know it darkens the leather, but the leather isn't exposed on the garments I sew, so I don't care about the color.
