Processing deer hair

[matt79jh]

Hi,

I've been getting hold of small amounts of feathers from someone I know that shoots, however today when i came home I was greeted by a bag of fresh deer hair on my door step

I hav'nt a clue how to cure/process it, its been skinned and from the little look i've had in the bag it does'nt seem to have any meat/blood/fat on it to remove.

Considering the time of year and the fact that i only have sheds and no garage, how would i go about drying it? Don't really want it in the house but if its beneficial i'd push to having it stored in the loft, that is if its not going to stink the house out and arise suspicion from the wife!

Any info on how and when in the process is best for bleaching some would be great too

Any advice appreciated

[stevekale]

If you search this forum, this topic was discussed quite recently.

Take a look here. You need to set up a stretching rack and cure the hide with borax (readily available in big tubs from eBay). The borax will dry off any residual fat etc and stop it smelling. Change the borax every so often and scrape off any that sticks to the hide.

Once the hide is cured, grid out patches that you can readily store - say 10 inches square (depends on what you plan to store it in). Dying is best done in strips cut from these patches about 3/4in wide. They will need to be degreased before dying. (Little cubes will turn into hockey pucks off mess.)

This is helpful for thinking about your grid and the use of each patch. Record where on the hide each patch came from.

Have fun.

[matt79jh]

Thanks for the advice steve, i've done abit of reading and searching and im unsure where in the process the hair side is treated for bugs.

Am I right in thinking this is my best and easiest process for undyed skin:

-wash the skin with warm soapy water

-stretch the skin by nailing flat hair side down to a board

-stand to dry (in loft ok?) (and vertical or horizontal?)

-cover with borax and renew borax every week for 3 weeks or untill dry

-maybe here is where i treat for bugs before storage?

-cut up and store in sealed ziplocks

By the way its not a whole skin and untill i have a closer look im not sure which part of the deer i have.

thanks again

[parintele]

You can also use table salt (NaCl) and hang it somewhere to dry out... This could take from few weeks to few months... then it is much easier to scrape any residual tissues from the skin, scrape the excess salt and deposit.
A previous detergent wash is good. Also use of a streching board or streching grid for drying the hide is very good idea.

[Fishtales]

I've done a couple of deer skin and small pelts using the borax method but they turn out stiff as boards if I bring them into the house, keep them in the shed and they stay supple Watch out for tics or deer keds in the hair as they will make anything they can get near a blood donor

Keep the skin at least a couple of inches off the board to allow air circulation.

If you want to go the whole hog of tanning them then this should help.

http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_l/l-103.pdf

[the stig]

Due to working in Pest Control i,ve just got a new deer hair 3 days ago i dont go for all the Bull Sh@t you read about the only treatments i do is spray the hair side with a dog flea spray then put skin in loft to dry and i,ve never had any probs in the past

cheers Bert

[stevekale]

Originally Posted by matt79jh

Thanks for the advice steve, i've done abit of reading and searching and im unsure where in the process the hair side is treated for bugs.

Am I right in thinking this is my best and easiest process for undyed skin:

-wash the skin with warm soapy water

-stretch the skin by nailing flat hair side down to a board

-stand to dry (in loft ok?) (and vertical or horizontal?)

-cover with borax and renew borax every week for 3 weeks or untill dry

-maybe here is where i treat for bugs before storage?

-cut up and store in sealed ziplocks

By the way its not a whole skin and untill i have a closer look im not sure which part of the deer i have.

thanks again

When you've tacked it out, just hose the fur down to remove dirt. Horizontal drying is supposed to be better. You'll probably fine that the hide will need more stretching after a day or so. Ideally you will have a rack where the bars can be adjusted to re-tension the hide.

When you've cut the hide down into storage sized pieces you can zap them in the microwave to kill anything left over or you can degrease each patch. Soak for a few hours in a bucket with a splash of dish washing liquid. Rinse in fresh water.

You can buy tanned roe deer skins on eBay for about £12. No mess; no degreasing!

[matt79jh]

Just a quick Thanks for all the advice, I plucked up the courage and put my hands into the bag today (with marigolds on!) pulled out the skin which looks like its the rump as there was still the tail tube attatched.
I washed it then scraped off any remaining fat or meat i could get at and stretched it out on a board and laid it slightly at an angle to drain off, then covered the whole skin with a generous layer of salt, i'm going to get some borax for next week when i'll scrape that first layer off and recover.
Don't think it will dry for a good while in my damp shed though.

I'm now in need of a good bath and can I say i foiund the whole process totally un-enjoyable that was probably without doubt the most disgusting thing i've ever made myself do! and i cannot get the smell out of my nostrils!

In future i'll stick to buying small patches i think

[the stig]

Originally Posted by matt79jh

Just a quick Thanks for all the advice, I plucked up the courage and put my hands into the bag today (with marigolds on!) pulled out the skin which looks like its the rump as there was still the tail tube attatched.
I washed it then scraped off any remaining fat or meat i could get at and stretched it out on a board and laid it slightly at an angle to drain off, then covered the whole skin with a generous layer of salt, i'm going to get some borax for next week when i'll scrape that first layer off and recover.
Don't think it will dry for a good while in my damp shed though.

I'm now in need of a good bath and can I say i foiund the whole process totally un-enjoyable that was probably without doubt the most disgusting thing i've ever made myself do! and i cannot get the smell out of my nostrils!

In future i'll stick to buying small patches i think

I TAKE IT UR A OFFICE WALLER

[matt79jh]

No im just a wuss lol the tail tube put me off then the smell pushed me over the edge, and i was being as discreet as possible in the garden, kinda felt like i was handling and disposing of a body or something, thank god the process does'nt involve rolling the skin up in carpet!