Posted on Taxidermy forum, but no hits...

I have a tanned black bear hide that is a bit dusty. I really can't get the long hair clean by wiping.

Can you hand wash it in a mild detergent? Just water?

It does have the claws in the hide. Can the water cause slip or make things want to rot?

Any suggestions appreciated.

Use an air compressor to blow the dust out. Taxidermists use this method to get the tumbling media out of the hair.

George

MetalMan-
George is right. I work in a tannery, and we routinely use an air blower to clean hides before shipping. If you use a compressor, try to adjust it down so it doesn't blow too hard. Then, take him outside, give him a shake, and your done.

Good luck- Gib

Try a shop vac with the hose in the "output" or a leaf blower standing a distance away. These will work if you don't have an air compressor and they do not blow with as much force.

You can vaccum it with a nozzle typre attachment..

Don't use a roller head on it.

We routinely vacuum our rugs and all our mounts. I have a brown bear that I killed 14 years ago and it still looks as good as ever.

I have a Brown Bear Rug that we have vacumned for years, I would not wash it. However I would not reccomend using the power nozzle attachment on the vacumn, I lost a wad of hair the one time I used it, and it certainly cannot grow anymore. Good shooting.

Try a vacume cleaner on the hide for dust removal. I like the air hose idea, but take the critter outside when you do that, and be carefull with the pressure form the hose. You sure don't want to blow the hair off the hide trying to clean it.