I'm am hoping to get some advice here regarding an OLD Cheetah skin that I purchased today from a fellow AR member.

The Good: The fur is in excellent condition for a skin that is about 40 or so years old. The colors are very vivid and bright. The face, tail, and most of the claws are still attached.
The skin side is soft and pliable like a deer hide.

The Bad: Today I soaked it an a bucket of water and shampoo to clean it up...when disaster struck! When I removed it, the tail fell off as did one of the legs! I didn't realize that it was so fragile..it didn't seem that way when dry.

Here's the question...what can/should I do to salvage it?? I bought it figuring that I would attach it to felt and hang on wall or drape over chair, etc. I was thinking of somehow glue-ing it to a deer-skin to give it strenght, but after todays debacle, I want to ask for advice first!

The damage isn't too bad, and I'm sure that I can sew or glue back the pieces.

Thanks!

Frank

FRANK FRANK FRANK
WHY didn't you call me before you went ahead with this, my man.
It's acid rot, no way to do anything with it now.
I could have helped you by soaking it very little and or in alcohol to do what you needed but it takes a soft touch to do this with a skin that old.
You can let it dry back out but it will more fragile than before....
Next time call me
DENNIS

Feel sick about this for you.

Dennis, it's because I am an impulsive idiot!!

I can't believe that this happened...it has nothing to do with the money (200 bucks) just the thought of ruining such a beautiful animal! I'm pissed!!

I have it spread out drying now, skin-side up. Is it going to just fall apart when I touch it??

Is there ANYTHING I can do with it now once it dries out??

Thanks Dennis!!

Shit, I didn't think a little water would have hurt it!!

What you needed was a little salt in the water ... one cup per five gallons ... and NO SOAP! The pH of the skin was raised with the addition of the soap, causing the breakdown of the fibers by swelling them, resulting in the parts falling away.

Plus - and I know this is a moot point for you, but hopefully it will help others - you should have sponged the solution slowly onto the leather side of the skin.

The other choice is this ... bring jobs like this to an experienced Taxidermist.

Sorry to hear about your troubles. That is a terrible lesson with such a beautiful animal skin.

At this point, all you can do, is watch over it until it dries - be sure it dries as flat as possible - and when dry secure felt to the leather side. You can use 3M Super 77 Adhesive Spray. Spray the leather side of the skin, let it set a minute or so, then apply felt to the leather side, pressing it into good contact. Let it set for about a half hour, then trim the felt to the edge of the skin.

Or ... brush contact cement on the leather side of the skin, as well as the felt used to cover the skin. Let the glue dry, then CAREFULLY lay the felt onto the skin, and smooth it down. Trim as described.

At this point that's the best advice I have. Good luck to you!

John.

quote:

Originally posted by Leopardtrack:
Dennis, it's because I am an impulsive idiot!!

I can't believe that this happened...it has nothing to do with the money (200 bucks) just the thought of ruining such a beautiful animal! I'm pissed!!

I have it spread out drying now, skin-side up. Is it going to just fall apart when I touch it??

Is there ANYTHING I can do with it now once it dries out??

Thanks Dennis!!

Shit, I didn't think a little water would have hurt it!!

No Frank it won't fall apart when it's dry . It will just be a little more fragile.
Contact cement will help it to stop tearing if you put felt on it but use the good stuff and let the cement on both the felt and skin dry pretty good before contact, don't do it wet "cause you will get impatient and lift it to see if it held and it won't then you'll try again and it has the tendancy to tear the more you work with it.
At least you didn't sell the farm for it.
If You don't want to screw with it put it in a box when it's dry and send it to me.
I'll do what I can to salvage it for you my friend.
DENNIS

quote:

the tail fell off as did one of the legs!

quote:

The damage isn't too bad, and I'm sure that I can sew or glue back the pieces.

Spoken like a true optimist, good luck with your hide Frank.
Brad

Thanks so much for the advice and for your offer Dennis! I'm thinking that if I try to put it into a box it will fall apart.

I have it drying flat, fur-side down, so I will just let it dry out now and see what happens. The skin-side is drying out, but it has a "slimey" feeling to it.

Hopefully in a few days when dry I will try to glue the felt to it and save it.

Dennis, good thing that I didn't try to do my Leopard myself!

Brad, you can't let a "minor" thing like a Cheetah's tail falling off get you down!

I'll let you know how my next phase of my taxidermy goes..

quote:

Originally posted by Leopardtrack:
Thanks so much for the advice and for your offer Dennis! I'm thinking that if I try to put it into a box it will fall apart.

I have it drying flat, fur-side down, so I will just let it dry out now and see what happens. The skin-side is drying out, but it has a "slimey" feeling to it.

That slimy feel is most likely the soap. After the skin dries, and before you attempt anything, you need to clean it off. The best way is to use something mild such as rubbing alcohol. Dampen a paper towel, and start carefully rubbing the slime off the skin. The alcohol will evaporate fairly quickly. Let the skin dry again, and if needed repeat this step. You can also use lacquer thinner ... this evaporates even more quickly than the alcohol. Just make sure it is a good clean lacquer thinner. It should be ready for gluing on a backing after this process. Good luck to you.

John.

Thanks John! The skin is drying nicely (50% or so) and the slimey feeling seems to have gone away. I will definetly do what you and Dennis advised with the felt and contact cement, and I'm sure that I can glue back the pieces with the felt in place.
As I said before, it wasn't the money that bothered me, just the sick feeling of having ruined such a beautiful skin. Add to that the fact that Cheetah skins are non-importable, so it makes it even worse. A Cheetah skin will make a nice novelty to my collection....I even have the claws.
I now have claws for Lion, which I bought in Zimbabwe, Leopard, which I shot in Zim, and now th Cheetah. Cool Stuff!

I'm not out of hot water yet, but looking better..I'll let you all know how the felt goes.

Thanks Again!!

Frank