Pelt washing!! Do or don't ?

[The Fish whisperer]

Hey guys I have heard different steps in washing hides some do it and some don't bother. The question I had was what order do you guys wash them? Skin,Flesh, wash, board or do you skin,wash,flesh then board? Oh for coyotes and foxes mainly.
Thanks

[Battle Rat]

I don't wash coyotes anymore.
I can clean even badly shot up ones in less time and mess by rubbing in Borax.

[nube]

I have done both and I think a washed coyote looks and smells better. Marty posted last year that the best is not to wash them but I find I have dirt and blood on a lot of mine and they just look better washed. I also like to get some of the grease off the hide washing it as well.
Maybe Marty can chime in again as to why not to wash them?

[HunterDave]

Skin, flesh, wash, sew (if required), board. I just rinse my dogs in clean water for about a minute to clean any blood and/or dirt out of the pelt. I've found that it makes the pelt brighter and fluffs up the fur nicely.

[The Fish whisperer]

Originally Posted by nube

I have done both and I think a washed coyote looks and smells better. Marty posted last year that the best is not to wash them but I find I have dirt and blood on a lot of mine and they just look better washed. I also like to get some of the grease off the hide washing it as well.
Maybe Marty can chime in again as to why not to wash them?

So Nube at what step do you wash yours before or after fleshing?

[Bushmaster]

I used to skin, wash, dry, then board skin side out for a few hours till they started to get stiff/dry, then reverse and hit them with a blower to finish drying the guard hairs. Mad for a great looking and smelling pelt. I used just a little bit of scented soap and only 3 hides per load in the washer and dryer.

[waterninja]

If I have one thats bloody or muddy I just take it to the car wash and wash it there. 1 looney and it's done, and no mess to clean up around the yard or shop, esp. in winter.
If I feel like washing one after it's skinned I use dog shampoo. You can buy it cheap at the dollar store and it is made for dogs after all.

[jwilson]

I comb out burs, ****, dried blood, skin, flesh, soak and rinse until the water is clear, baby shampoo, rinse until all the soap is out, drip dry few hours, sew up any holes, board.

[GStyler]

Originally Posted by nube

I have done both and I think a washed coyote looks and smells better. Marty posted last year that the best is not to wash them but I find I have dirt and blood on a lot of mine and they just look better washed. I also like to get some of the grease off the hide washing it as well.
Maybe Marty can chime in again as to why not to wash them?

I don't think Marty was saying not to wash them... just don't over wash them in a machine, and turn them into felt.

I wash all of mine in cold water after fleshing if I can to get rid of the extra butter from fleshing. I don't mind washing, its the drying that is a pain in the rear.

Drip drying fur out on a board is a lot of work but produces the best results for me. (cause you have to turn it again skin out, and then back to fur out.)
Drip drying fur out, but just hanging can have the face start to dry and wrinkle up if you aren't careful.
Using towels or air compressor to blow the water out doesn't really seem to speed up the process... just makes laundry or a mess.
using a hot air dryer is out of the question... cooking the skin.

does anyone use a wringer washer? there are some newer units available for people who want to live off the grid or have sail boats, but they can be pricey.

tried the borax. that made a mess everywhere, and the powder took a lot of combing and shaking and screwing around to get it all out. the worst was all the extra combing and subsequent hair removal.

these look sweet. but they are meant for chamois and sponges. there is a tension adjustment on most of them, but I'm not sure what would happen if you ran a fur through em due to the extra thickness.
http://www.dynajet.com/
http://www.amazon.com/GetPreparedStu...3TW7KN0AVZYD7A
http://www.dultmeier.com/products/0.48.2324/8217

[nube]

Originally Posted by The Fish whisperer

So Nube at what step do you wash yours before or after fleshing?

After fleshing. I find that with a little soap in the wash that all the excess oil cleans the skin up nicely. I notice if I don't do this my dry pelts have a lot of oil on the skin and you have to wipe the pelt down to clean it up.

[coy coyote]

Use a old top load wash machine with a ringer on the side. Skin, flesh sew. Throw 3 or 4 into the wash machine with cold water wash for 3 mins and then into the ringer till the water quits flowing out then onto the stretcher. They look awesome when you turn them.around. A touch of downy with the wash.

[Bushmaster]

Yup, the Downy gives the fur a nice bounce and leaves it smelling good.

[coy coyote]

Originally Posted by Bushmaster

Yup, the Downy gives the fur a nice bounce and leaves it smelling good.

Might want to tell the wife that your using downy to wash your furs. Lol

[Bushmaster]

Lol, don't have a wife.....that's how I was able to get away with using the washer and dryer !!

[C Taylor]

I skin then hand wash the hide with a touch of cold water tide. Rinse then let drip dry over night. I do the fleshing when I put the hide on stretcher.

[Marty S]

No problem washing them in a washing machine, but don't wash the heck out of them or you will turn the underfur into felt. The Canada Goose guy hates washing machines. So does Bruce Beasley and his partner at Intenational Fur Dressers.

For dried out blood caked messes that can happen, best remedy is to soak well and possibly even hand shampoo the blood cake before running. Machine wash only for 3 minutes, never more than 5 or the end users end up unhappy.

I remember years ago wrecking some coyotes, had an old wringer washer, would put them in the washer and then go have supper... Ya, no getting a comb thru the underfur on them. Mr Beasley pointed that out to me back when I used to sell him coyotes, he taught me a lot. Fur graders at the auction don't pick it out much tho, it is a hard one to see.

[Thunder Elk Hunter]

Apartment washer spin / dryer works great. I use sunlight soap.

[gman1978]

I remember a fur buyer we used to deal with hated washing machines too. He recommended hand washing in the sink. He also said downy ruined the fur. If he smelt it no buy!! I don't know why?

[Marty S]

It is likely that he got his own stuff tanned or dealt with an end user who would get his stuff tanned separately and held him accountable for stuff that developed problems in the tanning. (Whether it was truly Downy that caused the problems would/could be debatable.) It's the guys that get stuff tanned that hate the 10000 stupid things we do to coyotes. Meanwhile when we're done with it it's perfect and smells pretty and looks pretty, even fetches us more $$$ at auction. But we are the ignorant ones cuz we don't tan 1000's of coyotes.

[alder]

On the advice of a well known and reputable taxidermist out of Olds, it was recommended to me to use Pine Sol to kill bacteria and clean the pelt. I've tried it now and it seems to have worked well on my first snared coyote pelt.

[Secret coulee]

Ive always just used a 5 gallon pail of water but have always used main&tail shampoo.wow do those muts shine and look like they are goin to the dog show using that shampoo