# Borax on coyote pelts-Self tanning



## Wile E (Jan 3, 2007)

Hello,

If i want to self tan a pelt what do i need to do after skinning to keep the pelt until i get back home to flesh it?
Someone told me after skinning i should rub Borax on the flesh side.

Thanks,
Wile E.


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## xdeano (Jan 14, 2005)

Throw it in the freezer, if it's cool enough outside it'll stay good enough to tell you get home. up here it wouldn't take very long outside and it will be solid. I wouldn't salt it because adding salt would not allow it to freeze if you were going to want to do freeze it for a period of time depending on how far away from home you are. Borax works if you want to go that route, but you're better off just freezing it then thawing it when you get home.

xdeano


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## Fallguy (Jan 23, 2004)

Ya I'd say freeze it too. If you borax before fleshing I think it's going to get all dry then I don't know how well it will even flesh.


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## mr.trooper (Aug 3, 2004)

I have a similar question about my recent fist attempt:

I fleshed and scraped my pelt within an hour of the kill, let it cool, and salted the snot out of it. I let it dry for a week, changing the salt every few days. After it was completely dry, I treated it with borax to scare away any bugs.

Its been two more weeks since then, and the hide still looks great - like it just came off the animal... Am I good to go at this point, or do I need to worry about braining, and pickling, and hardwood ashes, ect.?


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## lyonch (Feb 26, 2006)

your hide is only dried right now and not tanned. You need to put it through a series of chemical solutions before the hide will be tanned and become something you can keep for a long time. A dry pelt is only going to last a few years, before it starts falling apart on you. I would get on google and do some researching on what it's going to take.


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## mr.trooper (Aug 3, 2004)

I've already done that.

Google does indeed pull up a lot of methods... using everything from ashes to battery acid. Many of these 'solutions' are on sights that allow users to review them - all of them have at least one user posting a horror story about how that particular solution ruined their hide.

It would be nice to get a real answer on which method actually works for those of you with experience. You can only learn so much from a Google search.


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

Anything short of a full on tan, is an open invite for larder beetles to destroy the pelt unless you store it in a freezer.

Salt......not a tan.
Borax...not a tan.
Dried on a stretcher......not a tan.

Brain tanning is probably the easiest "home" method of tanning. They say an animal has enough brains to tan its own hide. Ive had good luck doing it using pig brains, its easy, and it makes real nice leather.

Most taxidermists could steer you on to a home tanning kit......ive had horrible luck with these though.

Or, spend $20-30 and have a commercial tannery do a garment tan on it.


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