Washing coyote pelts

[Grey Bush]

I have just finished tanning my coyote and was wondering the best way to wash the fur. Could i use dog shampoo? any ideas???

[Brian Bildson]

Seems unusual to have to wash a tanned pelt? Must have kids. I give my tanned pelts a shake and light vacumning from time to time but have never washed one. I'd be careful of wetting them personally but perhaps someone else has done it.

[cmdalexander]

If it helps, I wash al my pelts for fly tying. (rabbit, fox, skinned birds, deer belly, etc)

First I flesh all my pelts, salt and stretch to dry. When they are compltely dry, I wash in warm water and dish detergent.

I re-stretch and wait to dry. For ny fur, I then rub some mink oil into the skin, it keeps them somewhat flexable for later use.

I may get flamed by some trappers, this is the process I use for non commercial preservation.

[Bushmaster]

Is the skin dry ? And supple ? If you wash it , it will likely dry stiff.....

[chaos2nyte]

Go on aaa supply house website and order yourself a bottle of Kemal 4. It's a degreaser/detergent used for taxidermy work, it works awesome for washing hides. It makes the hair extra soft and t takes away any kind of smell. When your drying the pelt make sure to stretch it as it dries so it doesn't get flint dry and stiff. Hope this helps.

[Yéil]

When I have to clean a pelt, I use saw dust. I put the pelt in a bag with saw dust (usually cedar) and put it in the dryer (no heat) and let it tumble around for about 40-50 mins. Give it a shake and we're nice and clean and soft without damaging the hairs.

[magnummike]

OK ,your gonna think I'm nuts.....that's what I thought of the inuit that told me how to do this...
I used to shoot lots of arctic wolves on the ice road in N.W.T. and sometimes they got pretty bloody.
So this guy told me to put them in the washing machine!!!!!
We took a shot and tried it out......really glad we did!!!
We waited till my buddy's wife left the house and put a really bloody raw wolf skin in the washing machine and kept filling and spinning and draining....over and over till the water was clear.....made a real mess outside the machine....but WOW... what a clean skin!!
The only thing you have to get is a powerful drying machine....we used one of those blue industrial dryers that insurance restorators use when a house gets flooded.

Remember that the hide MUST be completely dried before stretching or the hair will fall out!!!

YOU GOTTA TRY IT !!!!

[coyote_man]

We wash our coyotes and wring them as dry as possible before putting on stretcher to fully dry. If fleshed properly there is no loss of hair. Dont know about wolves but I doubt that there is any difference. Once completely dry why woukd one want to stretch it?