Newbie tanning question: can I use pH balanced shampoo on a pelt?

[Guest cjeanean]

Hi, I'm new to tanning animal hides and this site, so sorry if this is in the wrong place! I'm wondering if a pH balanced shampoo (5.5 pH) can be used to wash a hair-on coonskin. If so, would it hurt to wash it with the shampoo after pickling, or would any washing need to happen before the pickle? I degreased in white fuel and washed with a basic soap, but I don't think the washing did much good. I've been lurking on quite a few forums and saw that although Dawn is recommended by many people for washing/degreasing some people have problems with it, and since this is my first try I thought I'd use a non-detergent soap. After doing more reading and research, I saw that the pH of the skin is a very big factor in preventing slippage as well in aiding the absorption of the tanning agent (skin pH below 7) and the shampoo is pH 5.5 (it's not for pelts, though). The pickle bath is at a pH of about 1.5 with a soak time of 3 days.

So here it is in a nutshell:

1. Can a pH 5.5 shampoo be used on a pelt?

2. If so, can the shampoo be used after pickling?

Thanks!!!!

Edited August 4, 2011 by cjeanean

[ShaunM]

You should ask WD-40 he would know.

[Guest cjeanean]

I actually sent him a message He seems to know what he's talking about! I was just hoping someone might be able to answer the questions for me sooner....thanks!

[Guest nj.piney]

i haven't got a clue , but welcome to TGO .

[Guest cjeanean]

i haven't got a clue , but welcome to TGO .

Thanks I got a reply from wd-40, and went ahead and used the shampoo. It doesn't seem to have done any harm. I don't know when hair slippage would show up if it was going to, but so far it looks good. I got the stuff from Sally's Beauty Supply, it's pH balanced shampoo for hair treated with semi-permanent colors. Thanks for the replies and the welcome!

[DWARREN123]

No idea either but Howdy and Welcome to TGO

[NRA]

WHY ARE WE FEEDING THE TROLLS?

[Guest cjeanean]

WHY ARE WE FEEDING THE TROLLS?

What do you mean?

[Guest GT_Rat]

Got to admit it took a couple readings before I realized you were talking about hide tanning.

I'm sure NRA will have a good laugh at himself when he sees this.

[Guest cjeanean]

Got to admit it took a couple readings before I realized you were talking about hide tanning.

I'm sure NRA will have a good laugh at himself when he sees this.

LOL, sorry, I thought I was being clear...I hope NRA didn't get the wrong idea....Thanks again for the replies and the welcomes, I appreciate it! From what I can tell it looks to be working out well, but I guess we'll see. If it does one of my brothers will be impersonating Davy Crockett on Christmas....

[NRA]

[DaveS]

I replied back. I went to satlelite internet and have been off "air" for a couple of weeks. I'm back now! Always remember, that the lower the PH (acidic) the better your chances of successs. Nitrobactor bacteria cannot thrive in a PH of less than three. 1 to 2 PH is perfect for tanning. If your hair was going to slip, you would know it pretty quick.....

[DaveS]

Just one piece of advice....this is a "cover your ***" statement: white fuel is very very dangerous item to use for "degreasing". Long story, but I blew myself and a groundhog up using that stuff. If I do not have a comercial "degreaser" available, I use Dawn "Green" dish soap and Mineral spirits to degrease. PLEASE CEASE USING WHITE GAS!!!!!

[Guest cjeanean]

Just one piece of advice....this is a "cover your ***" statement: white fuel is very very dangerous item to use for "degreasing". Long story, but I blew myself and a groundhog up using that stuff. If I do not have a comercial "degreaser" available, I use Dawn "Green" dish soap and Mineral spirits to degrease. PLEASE CEASE USING WHITE GAS!!!!!

Uh oh....well, I didn't blow myself up, but it's nice to know that I could have!!!! The pelt doesn't smell like fuel, so hopefully I escaped harm this time!!!! Around the neck is where the skin is very thick, and I've thinned it out with a dremel tool. It seems to have worked, and I'm not having any problems with slippage, but after your reply message I now know I'll be able to thin it a little more. Good to know that I would see slippage soon if it were gonna happen. I used Deer Hunter's Hide Tanning Formula for the tan, and it seems to have done the trick. I couldn't believe it actually ended up feeling like real leather (who'da thunk?)! I'm going to use some mink oil when I'm done breaking, so hopefully that'll make it even more soft and pliable. Thanks again, and if anyone's interested I'll post pics of the hat when it's done

[DaveS]

I'd love to see some pics. Just in case you can't ever find "Mink Oil", "Neatsfoot Oil" is the oil of choice, and can be found anywhere shoe polish is sold. Please keep us all posted on your project as there is more than one way to "skin a cat" (coon in this case!). Keep us updated!

[Guest GT_Rat]

Long story, but I blew myself and a groundhog up using that stuff.

I know you're dead serious but that statement made me laugh. A lot.

[DaveS]

I guess I better tell this story. I'll make it as short as possible, so please bare with me.

It was sometime during the summer of 1969. Man just stepped on the moon, and Grandpa was sick in bed (he died a couple weeks later), may he forever rest in peace!

I remember we had a garden, and grandpa had a fence up to keep the old Jersey milk cow, goats, mule and chickens out of the garden. Right below one of the fence post, was this here Groundhog hole. Granny (who was robbed and murdered in 1978) used to fuss constently about this "whistling pig" (groundhog) that kept eating everything out of the garden. Grandpa had this very old .22 rifle, single shot, the kind you used to have to pull this thingie back to get it to fire. He used to send me out with that antiqidated thing for me to try and shoot that dad gum groundhog with. The best I could do, was throw a cloud of dust up around him before he escaped back into the hole.

So one day, a friend of mine came over, as we was going to walk down to the flint river and do some catfishing that night. Terry and my self was outside fueling our Coleman latern (not dark yet) to go catfishing. Well Granny came out a said, "That darn whistleing pig is tearing up my cowpeas!" "You ain't a going fishing until you get rid of that thing!"

So, I got the .22 and of course missed that dang thing! So, I decided, me and Terry could take some coleman fuel, pour it down those groundhog holes, light it and be on our way fishing.

So I poured about a quart down one hole, walked a few feet away, and poured more down the next hole. Well, what happened next is really unclear at this date and time, but I lit one of those "strike anywhere" matches (don't you remember shooting them out yo BB gun?) and throwed it down in the opening of that groundhog hole.

Ladies and Gentleman....let me tell you right here, right now, those fumes from that white gas must have got all under granny's cowpeas, because when that coleman fuel lit off...smoke was coming off the red clay dirt, what little hair I had on my face and hands was gone. Granny heard the "ka...whoomp" when that fuel lit off and came a running outside. I'm not sure what was hotter....the explosion or Granny! I have not been the same since.

Well anyways, a blue fire ball rolled out of both holes, there was a part of a tunnel where the mini nuclear blast opened up a trench that went right through granny's cowpeas! Not good! My grandpa, who used to work for Nasa in Huntsville, said Me and Terry were damn sure not scientist, and should leave such medlings to smarter people. I know to this day, that Granny didn't mean to leave a hand print on my backside, but it's all a part of life. Never got to go fishing that night. Twere'nt in the mood I guess.

So, I get to visit the old home evertime I go to Alabama. Ladies and Gentlemen.....it must have worked, that ol' groundhog ain't been seen in 40+ years!

Moral of the story...STAY AWAY FROM WHITE GAS!!!!

This is a true story!

Edited August 6, 2011 by wd-40

[Guest GT_Rat]

I knew there had to be a good story behind that. The first thing I imagined was Carl in Caddyshack.

Flammable liquids in a confined space are never a good thing.

Well, unless the confined space is the combustion chamber of an engine of some sort that is.