I have a wildebeest "rug" from RSA that I have recently brought up to my office. It is a tanned skin, not a finished rug. It has wrinkles and curled edges. What is the best way to flatten it out?

Thank you!

Without looking at it in person, my suggestion would be to spread it out on a clean area, put sheets of plywood on it. Next, put heavy objects on the plywood. leave for a week or two, then check if it has pressed out the wrinkles and curls. or better yet, take it to a professional taxidermist and see what they can do. The tanning job may be so bad, it won't straighten out.

Coop:

I've heard a couple times to dampen
the leather side first, then flatten
and weight it as above.

George

Dampening is dangerous. Without knowing the type and efficiency of the tan, you could lose hair. The fact is that those wrinkles are going to be permanent. Remember, the hide was removed from a cylindrical object (carcass) and laid out flat. The natural skin memory wants to conform back to its natural state. When we do rugging, many times slits have to be cut along the edges and small triangles removed so that we defeat this memory issue. Poor rug work is easily seen when there are ripples along the edges.