I would like to know if anyone has tried using an old wahing machine to clean up freshly skinned pelts. I have thought about using the one I have to clean up those muddy coons, etc. I figure washing them with cold water and detergent should work pretty well, then maybe running them again w/ fabric softener. What do you all think?

i've run one of those old top load washers for a long time and love it. you kind of have to tweek a little, but the wringer can be real handy as well.

i don't generally wash my coons. if they are really muddy, i try and wash as much off as i can in the creek. then if still muddy (and still wet) when i get back to the shed, i'll just wash real good with the hose on the carcass. then heat and fan and they are dry and ready to go when i get home.

then before i skin, even if there is a little mud, its dried and that comes out when brushing.

coyotes are what i mainly wash and it works good.

Be careful with detergents, softeners and such. The detergents will remove the oils that give the fur its natural sheen and softeners may arouse suspicion with the buyers.

Just wash them with clean water on the slow cylces and an extra rinse if you feel you must. Usually a short soak and swirl in a tub of water will do the trick. About the only advantage to a washer is for large numbers and the spin cycle speeds drying.

i find its a big advantage on coyotes. maybe not trapped so much if you control the blood, but if you've shot one and have some dried blood, the hose treatment aint gonna get it done. that washer with the adjatator will work those blood clots and clean it up good.

"Just wash them with clean water on the slow cycles and an extra rinse if you feel you must"

That isn't the province of the old "wringer" washer that's described above, there ain't no cycles to it. These, you just fill with water and forge ahead. Rinsing is a separate operation that either requires draining water from the machine and refilling it with clean water or getting a separate rinse tub.

I had one last year, but found it was more trouble than it was worth. I had to keep it in a cold building and the water would freeze so I had to drain it every night. Also, it took quite a bit of water to get the machine full enough to use. I found that a 5-gallon bucket of cold water with a few drops of dish soap would do the trick. If the pelt was particularly soiled, I'd just let it soak for a few minutes. This would be followed by a rinse in a bucket of clean cold water.

However, the wringer on that machine is really handy. I dismantled the washer and mounted the wringer outside my shed so I can continue to use it to wring out wet pelts. I wash the pelt in soapy water, wring it, then wash it in clean water, and wring it again.

I should add that, with the exception of coyotes, I too try to get the critter cleaned up before I skin it, and not after.

-- Hal

I'm assuming this is still on topic, if you wash the pelt after skinning, can you let it drip dry before fleshing, or do you need heat? I generally wash my critters in the morning, (that's when I check the vast majority of my traps), and just let them drip dry while I'm at work. I then do my skinnin' when I get home and have more time. But once the pelt is off, how long can is stay out to dry (unfrozen) before it needs to be fleshed and on the stretcher?

not certain of your question so i'll just take a stab here and give you what i do.

coons, i really think if you add a little heat and air, they will be totally so you can skin them that way. then personally, i freeze them (making sure they are dry) right after i skin them. then every night, skin the fresh stuff and have a few frozen thawing to flesh. they flesh alot easier when they are chilled.

coyotes, i brush them clean of matted fur and burrs. skin and flesh and then wash. i've got a few old wire stretchers that i put the pelt on wet after i've wringed it and popped it out. let it dry till the hair is pretty dry and then goes skin side out on the wood stretchers and so on.

if you are gonna wash an animal, i would wash before skinning and let dry, or wash after skinning and fleshing both are complete.

Precisely where did the big eyed fish guy say anything about a old wringer; he didn't even mention Hal once.

As for cycles draining every night and refilling with a bucket could be construed as a cycle...Sullycycle maybe.
Out here in the back country we heat our work spaces, my stove is in the corner, opposite the TV that hangs above the frig.

I the reason I was asking about the washer is that we just moved and an old working washer was left behind. I have typically washed everything in 5 gallon buckets before...just thought it might save time. I do like the idea of using a wringer, never thought about that.

Now, as to washing the animal before skinning vs. after: does it matter enough to warrant a change? Also, same question regarding dish soap vs. laundry detergent?

for wash after skinning,
my thoughts are that if you wash an animal before fleshing, the watery fat makes it slicker or something, but tougher to flesh. plus, i try to keep my beam pretty clean, but you will get some fat and grease and maybe a little blood or maybe acidently drop on the floor when fleshing. why not be done working the dirty part and then wash so not as much chance to get it dirty again. i don't do anything that way.

now like on coons, i don't wash them when done skinning or fleshing:
1. the coons are already wet when i get them home. wash them up on the carcass with a hose to get as much mud and blood off as possible. that way only wet the one time.
2. you don't have to have a pelt hanging there drying, cause there will alway be corners or edges of the leather side that will dry up a bit. not a big deal, just looks a little rougher and might loose you the fraction of an inch you need to make it to the next grade. plus, you've got coons drying on stretchers hanging everywhere and my area isn't big enough to have 10 or 15 wet pelts hanging around to dry before fleshing or stretching.
3. wouldn't you rather work with a dry animal than a wet one? for my scenario, there is nothing i can do from the time i leave them in the shed in the morning till the time i get home from work. i want that time to be used for something and not wasted, so its used for drying the animals.

my theories, but everybody does things different and thats ok too.