Thread: How to soften deer hides

I tanned a nice fallow deer hide earlier this year. Unfortunately, It seems it was left too long between salting and tanning. The hide has come up OK, but seems a bit hard, and many hours of rubbing with a pumice stone has helped, but does anybody know of anything I can use to soften the hide without resulting in a sticky mess?

Disclamer! I know nothing about this!
If it is cured IE leather couldnt you just put dubbin or simmilar on it?
If you do and all the hair falls out I accept no responsibility

"If all the hair falls out - no responsibility"...... thats what my barber said, and now look at me!!!!!!

I did rub a little bit of dubbin in one spot, and seems not too bad, but I am worried about ending up with a greasy hide (the deer - not me)

What you need is tanners oil or Leidreiters Leather lube .Both products are brushed on then left to soak in a few days,you may need to repeat the application a couple of times.Needs to be re-hydrated basically .
Next step is to break the hide (flesh side) ,couple of ways to do that.Over the top of a post , by rubbing with pumice.
The thicker parts round the edge will normally require more work to soften .

Cheers Chris. Yep, I have worn a post smooth, and demolished a few pumive stones. Seems like the re-hydrating is the key. I suspected as much, so I will try the leather lube.