Washing out blood
 

Had a big male marten that was caught in an inverted box, by a 120sx. Excellent single bar right behind the skull instant kill.
A decent amount of blood had stained the pelt. I washed it in cold water after skinning it. Snapped it and whirled it around a bit then boarded skin out as per normal.
I will flesh here shortly. When I turn it fur out tomorrow morning what should I expect? Just let it air dry and brush again? Or a little fluffing with a hairdryer and brush to fill the fur out again? Temperature in garage fluctuates from 12c to 5c according to thermometer.
Only used cold water no soap.

Not a very popular thread.

Here's the follow up. I fleshed it, flipped it again and brushed any free water out of the fur with my hand . Whirled and snapped a few more times then back on a dry board with belly wedge ,flesh out. 6 hours later I checked and the skin was ready to turn. Turned the fur out and and placed on a dry board, ran my hands over the fur to fluff it a bit, then combed, then added belly wedge and tacked the hind legs to prevent curl. Looks ok but not as full and fluffy as not washed marten.
At 22.5" he is just shy of XXL but a very nice male marten. The pic was after turning before tacking down hind legs.
Cold water easily removed all blood. Just wondering how to have the pelt come out fuller when dried next time.

I know coyotes & Marten are different animals, but...
 

I wash every coyote in the tub with a small amount of clothes detergent, then board it fur out to let it drip-dry initially (3-4hrs). Then spend 30-45 minutes using my hands, a detangling comb, & a hairdryer.

Once it's fairly dry, I flip it fur-in and start the salting process. Of the 8-9 yotes I did last year, not 1 had any slippage and I got plenty of comments on how full/fluffy their fur was...


Good luck this season !

I get flat pelts when I tan beaver and board them wet. I think that it would have been a better plan to wash your marten whole and let it dry before putting it up. Regardless, I take a pet brush and go over the beaver pelt in a small circular motion to break up the fur a bit. Better find out if marten are subject to singe before trying it though. I also find that putting my flat pelts in front of a strong fan helps to loosen the hair and fluff it up a bit.

Not sure if that's any help with your marten.....especially if they are subject to singe.....but that's how I deal with flat beaver pelts.

Yeah, I forgot to add that when leaving it to drip dry I also have a fan on it...

I always wanted to find one of those old foam/cork roller squeegee rollers to run fur through. Old style wringer I think. Anybody ever use one?

Last week I added a washing machine to the shed and it makes life a lot easier than washing by hand in a garbage can. The spin cycle does a great job of getting the pelts fairly dry and after an hour hanging in front of a large fan the fur is merely damp to the touch. I've never used an old wringer washer with the rollers to squeeze out the water but I think that I'd prefer the spin cycle over putting my pelts through the wringer.

When fully dry, some gentle back-brushing should restore the fur.

Believe me, a wash in plain cold water does not affect the fur.

But washing won't turn a not fully prime pelt into a mid-jan heavy furred specimen.

coyote,s
 

I use a spinner that run,s at 3300 rpm and they are dry in on time.

Haha. Yeah. I'm not looking for miracles , just being sure I don't lose any value.