How - To's

 


Using Tan'um Kit 100

Tan'um Kit includes: 10 pounds Ammonium Alum, 4 pounds Pickling Crystals, 1 quart Protal Tanning Oil, and 8 ounces Sodium Bicarbonate. (Salt not included).


Directions:

  1. After the cape or hide has been skinned from the carcass, remove as much meat and fat as possible from the hide, split the lips, turn the ears, and take the cartilage out of the septum of the nose. The longer the hide remains in its raw state the more likely the hair is to slip.

  2. Lay the hide hair side down; flesh side up on a flat working surface. Salt the hide with a fine ground non-iodized salt; thoroughly rub the salt into the flesh side. Never use rock salt or reuse old salt!

  3. Leave the hide salted for 12 to 24 hours.

Pickling:

  1. Mix the pickle at the following proportions:

    For every gallon of water add:

    1 pound salt

    3 ounces of Pickling Crystals, or the acid of your choice, the pH should read at 1.5-2.0.

  2. Place the salted hide into the pickle. The minimum amount of time for the hide to stay in the pickle is 72 hours. Remove the skin anytime during the pickle and shave the skin as thin as possible. The thinner the skin is shaved the softer and more flexible it will be. As soon as you are finished thinning, put the hide back in pickle.

  3. Once the allotted time for pickling has been completed, remove the hide from the pickle and rinse in cold water.

Degreasing:

  1. Degrease the skin if necessary. Skins such as bear, raccoon, and beaver will require degreasing. Heavy degreasing can be done with McKenzie Relaxer / Degreaser, 2 fluid ounces per gallon of water, leave the hide in the degreaser for 30 minutes then rinse in clear water. For light degreasing, Dawn dish soap can be used at a ratio of 1/2 fluid ounce per gallon of water. Be sure to rinse all the degreasing agent out with cool water.

Neutralizing:

  1. Mix a neutralizer bath to the following proportions:

    For every gallon of water add:

    1 ounce of Sodium Carbonate (baking soda) OR use 2 ounces of Borax

    Leave the hide in the neutralizer solution for 15 minutes on light skinned animals or 20 minutes on deer etc.

  2. Remove the hide from the neutralizer and rinse in clean water.

  3. Rinse a second time in a bath of room temperature water. Hang and drain for 30 minutes.

Tanning with Alum Tan (Ammonia)

  1. For every gallon of boiling water:

    1/4 pound alum

    1 pound salt

  2. After the solution has cooled, place the hide or cape in the solution, be sure there is enough tanning solution to entirely free float the hide.

  3. Stir the hide and the solution once a day.

  4. Under normal circumstances the hide will be completely tanned in 2 weeks.

  5. Remove the hide form the Alum tan and rinse in cold water. If the hide is stiff, you can soften it by using McKenzie Relaxer / Degreaser.

  6. Allow the cape or hide to drain for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

  7. Lay hair down and apply the Protal to the skin side. Allow the Protal to absorb into the hide before mounting.

    For flat rugs, stake the hide out and break the hide as it dries. The longer the hide breaking process is carried on the softer the hide will be.



Note: Van Dyke's Taxidermy Supply Co. offers these instructions in an advisory capacity and assumes no liability. Such information is the same as used in our own successful experiments, and since we have no control over the environment or the materials upon which our products or instructions will be used, no success is guaranteed. Trial must be performed to account for individual circumstances. In all suggestions, we recommend reading the formulas that have been provided for your evaluation. These are proven formulas that you may find beneficial, from the experience of other tanners.



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