How To Make A Rug Out Of Deer Hide

The salting process takes a day or two if the proper amount of salt is used.

How to make a rug out of deer hide.

Pour the alum water mixture into the garbage can with the salt water and then put the hide into the solution. Stir until the alum is dissolved. You can cover the skin in salt and let it dry out by the sun or you could take borax and cover the skin and leave the skin out for a day and then take the borax off. Let the water drip from the animal hide.

Leave it in the solution for four days. The purpose is to draw out all moisture and dry the hide out. There is two ways to cure a deer skin if you want the hair on it. The more you work the hide the softer the skin will become as rubbing the hide breaks down the collagen fibers.

Remove the animal hide and place it in clean cold water for another 24 hours changing the water at least 6 times during the process. After four days remove the hide and rinse with fresh water from a garden hose. Of borax to 20 gallons of lukewarm water in the second 30 gallon trash can. The salt essentially preserves the hide but if you aren t going to continue the tanning process now then simply roll the hide up and freeze it until you re ready to continue.

Leave the hide sit overnight. Add one pound of ammonium alum in the small bucket and add one gallon of water. Use 3 5 pounds of salt depending on how large the hide is. Soften the skin by rubbing the hide over the saw horse applying baby oil sparingly.

Rub both sides of the deer hide with a thin layer of warm baby oil. Work only the bare side of the hide as rubbing the fur will break the hair. Scrape the old salt off and reapply a fresh layer. The next day there will likely be a pool of fluid sitting on top of the now wet salt.

Keep adding salt to the hide until it dries out and becomes crispy. Moisten a cloth and use it to dampen but not wet the deer hide. The salt method will leave the skin a little hardened but if you use the borax method the skin with be very supple. Rub the deer pelt with non iodized salt sea salt.

Hold the hide with one hand on each side of the rope and rub the bare skin side of the hide in a back and forth motion across the rope. Make sure you put down a fairly thick layer of salt to draw out the moisture from the pelt.