Coon skin questions

[Fox]

I have tanned a few nice rabbit pelts and a squirrel. I have many coons in the freezer and on that has been fleshed and then was salted and then membraned… now there’s so much coon far saturated in the skin it won’t dry and is super gross and greasy. I’ve tried salting it 2 times letting it dry for a week, also tried soaking it in salt water, have washed it with dawn soap and it’s still grossly greasy…. How do I fix this

[Gimlis Ghost]

Might not work on animal hides but trisodium phosphate will draw oil, grease and animal fats out of oil soaked woods, even if the oil has been there for decades to centuries.

A strong solution of TSP allowed to dry recrystallizes and oils and animal fats are drawn into the crystals. Once completely dry you can dry brush the crystals away or I've found washing the surface with household hydrogen peroxide (about 2-4%) does even better.
With wood it takes several applications.

Like I said I haven't tried it on animal hides so if you try it first try on a small sample.

[BowEd]

I have tanned a few nice rabbit pelts and a squirrel. I have many coons in the freezer and on that has been fleshed and then was salted and then membraned… now there’s so much coon far saturated in the skin it won’t dry and is super gross and greasy. I’ve tried salting it 2 times letting it dry for a week, also tried soaking it in salt water, have washed it with dawn soap and it’s still grossly greasy…. How do I fix this

Apparently you did'nt flesh them properly.They are a lot greasier than rabbits or squirrels as I'm sure you found out.So are bear.I'm afraid they are spoiled but you can try suggested remedy.
For a coon hide I intend to tan I freeze them in the fat or flesh right away and salt to flint dry.Out of the freezer I flesh them and salt them to flint  dry and then tan.
For coon hides I intend to sale that are framed I flesh them/frame them inside out.After drying I tumble them in my tumbler which has cob grit in it and they will be dry as a cork and don't need to be stored in the freezer if sold that season.If held over they go into the freezer till next season.

[Hawkdancer]

Interesting techniques!  Ed, what kind of tumbler do you have?
Hawkdancer

[Don W]

I've heard of using a dryer. If I did that they'd never find my body!

[BowEd]

It's the way it is done fellas when you sell directly to a fur company by passing the middleman fur buyer.
On a different note Fox in times past I've degreased hair from neats foot oil too with white gas [coleman gas]  although if the leather of your hides is saturated or infiltrated with grease I doubt much can be done.It's what we call grease burnt hides.Possibly a taxidermy product might do the trick.
It can happen to any type hides out there.

[BowEd]

I should'nt be hijacking Fox's thread here but here's my tumbler I made over 35 years ago while putting up fur.2' diameter/4' long to accomodate any coyote.Geared down from a 1hp motor with pulleys and a gear reducer to turn 13 times a minute.It has 1" by 4" baffles to help lift the hides and drop them into the grit over and over.Mounted on an A frame with pillow block bearings.Plywood ends and sheet metal sides.Only needs around a half pail of cob grit to do dozens of hides.Still on the same bag of cob grit to this day.Only 5 minutes of tumbling needed to degrease a half dozen put up coon hides.
I've done thousands of hides through this tumbler.Still works good as new.

[Hawkdancer]

Don,
You might find a used dryer at a moving or yard sale.  That way it could be dedicated for safer living! .  Ed, Thanks for the pictures!
Hawkdancer

[BowEd]

I've heard of using a dryer. If I did that they'd never find my body!

A dryer does not dry up grease,at least not with air or heat.

[Don W]

I've heard of using a dryer. If I did that they'd never find my body!

A dryer does not dry up grease,at least not with air or heat.

I don't remember where I read it, but if I recall correctly (big if) it was for heat or air, it was for softening. They may have even added some rocks. Maybe even corn cobs.

[BowEd]

That's what my tumbler does.It'll take the surface oil off.but not any grease that's infiltrated into the leather.The trick is to take that surface grease off right away before it infiltrates into the leather over time.The leather will be grease burnt otherwise.Spoiled.
The cost of a tumbler to buy is quite a bit of money.Reason why I made my own.
Fatty or oily type hides are best tanned right away after fleshing.Salted and flint fried and then washing with dawns soap and then tanned.Not from a dryed state.

[Fox]

So bowEd how do you keep the fat out of the hide? What we did was first skin it (it was fresh road kill)
Then it was put in a the freezer for a few months until we could get to it, then we cut the fat off not fleshing and membraneing with a fleshing knife just cutting meat and fat off with a sharp knife so we don’t damage the fur with the fleshing knife, then we salted it and tried to dry it to flint dry but it never really dried, tried to membrane it but it was really greasy…

[Fox]

Should we have fleshed it on a beam with a fleshing knife? Last coon we tried to do that with the hair came out from using the fleshing knife and beam

[Deerhunter21]

thats what ive done fox. Froze the raccoon, skinned it frozen, fleshed it frozen on a fleshing beam with a fleshing knife. I did it with my uncle who is a part time trapper.

[Outbackbob48]

Guys, skin them fresh or overnite, flesh them on a beam with a good fleshing knife either air dry on stretcher or tan them. Air dry goes to fur market  or a commercial tannerry Fresh fleshed either freeze for storage or tan. Make sure you do an excellent job of fleshing, no half ass stuff or you will get freezer grease burn. There easy peasy.  Dryed hides salt or air are harder to rehydrate for tanning and frozen animals do not skin very well ( easy to cut holes in frozen animals and impossible to flesh properly ) Bob