Krowtann Products from Ozark Woods (2024)

Directions – PLASTIC MATERIALS ONLY

1. Rough flesh skin, turning the lips, nose, ears, and eyes. Wash bloody and dirty skins before putting in tann. Degrease oily skins by your prefered method. Wash in clear water before putting skin in tann.
2. Half the water, make one part warm and one part cold. Take the warm water and mix in the full amount of salt and tann, mix well (this ensures that the salt dissolves well) then pour in the cold water and mix again. In a PLASTIC tote to give the skin room. Submerge HAIR SIDE OUT for 10-15 min then reverse to SKIN SIDE OUT for the rest of the tanning process, and weigh it down with a water filled jug ( WITHOUT LABELS ). Keep a lid on container.
3. Leave the skin in the tann for 1-4 days depending on thickness of skin. We recommend 3-4 days in most cases. Each day lift the skin out of the tann and stretch, then return it in a new position to ensure tann reaches the entire skin. Make sure ears are getting tann down in them and that there are no folds or creases in the skin.. DO NOT STIR SKIN IN TANN.
4. Pull skin out of tann and wash in clear water for a few min.
5. In a separate tote add the appropriate amount of water and sodium bicarbonate. Submerge the skin with a water filled jug and leave for the appropriate amount of time, agitating the skin occasionally.
6. Wash the skin hair side out in Liquid Tide and rinse well with clear water.
7. Do your final fleshing. If the skin is not soft and stretchy at this point, re-neutralize the skin in a fresh batch of sodium bicarbonate and water for 5 min

   a. If you froze your hide: To obtain more stretch soak hide in lukewarm water for 5-10 min before mounting. Squeeze out excess by hand and hang to dry while prepping form.

8. Mount the skin, or freeze for a later date.

PLEASE NOTE: Slowly add sodium bicarbonate to the tanning mixture until pH is 7 before disposing of it
DO NOT WEIGH DOWN WITH ROCKS, CONCRETE BLOCKS OR ANYTHING SIMILAR

TROUBLE SHOOTING
● Skin is not soft or stretchy: the skin is either not fleshed enough, or not neutralized enough. Repeat step 7

● Hair is slipping: The skin may have been bad to start with, the skin has been over neutralized or the Tanning formula didn’t have enough salt. Mount the skin ASAP trying not to tug or pull on slipping area. Apply denatured alcohol to affected area, when the skin is dry the hair should set. Please follow the directions exactly to ensure proper performance of Krowtann.

● Not enough stretch: apply Krow Oil to skin in only the neck area, let this set for 1-2 hours before mounting or freezing.

If the directions are followed correctly, your skin should feel like a wet dish towel and have as much stretch as a green skin.
Suggested shelf life is 8 months

If skin is crowded, add equal parts of each ingredient until it has enough room.

Q. Does it hurt to leave the skin in the tann longer than 4 days?
A. No!

Q. Can you over tan a skin?
A. No, the hide will only soak inasmuch tann as it needs. You could put a squirrel in the amount for an elk and it would be fine.

Q. Can I use rock salt or cattle salt?
A. Rock salt, no. Cattle salt, depends; it must be only pure fine grain salt with no additives.

Q. Does temperature affect the tann?
A. No, if it is left in a cold environment leave it to tann longer .

Q. What do I do if my skin is already salted?
A. You must rehydrate the skin before putting it in the tann

Q. How is Krowtann Special Whitetail formula different from Krowtann 2000?
A. The whitetail formula has more oil that make big game easier to flesh and gives a better stretch. The 2000 is better at saving any “iffy” skin and seems to work better for small game. Though you can use either for any animal… even Alligator!!

Q. Can I reuse a batch after tanning on another skin?
A. NO! Your previous skin has already used the tanning agent

Q. Can I put more than one skin in a container?
A. Yes, but you must be careful. Make sure your skins have enough room that they are not wrapped around each other or have folds. We do not recommend this method.

Q. I’ve had my Krowtann for over a year, can I still use it?
A. Yes, though it isn’t recommended. You will possibly see black balls floating in the bottle, this is the oil that has separated. You will need to filter these out of the tann. You may also need to oil your hide, since the oil has separated from the tann. We recommend a shelf life of 8 months

Q. Can I use baking soda instead of sodium bicarbonate?
A. Yes, but you will need to double it. For example, the formula calls for 4 oz of sodium bicarb- it would be 8 oz of baking soda

Q. What if the Tann mixture isn't fully covering my hide OR I’m tanning an animal the size of a Moose or Buffalo?
A. We have two suggested methods of tanning larger animals- the first is to go ahead and get the Elk formula mixed and ready, add your hide, then add equal parts of each ingredient until it is fully submerged. The second is to mix the Elk formula, then add the deer formula until you the hide is fully submerged ( you can do this with any of the formulas- as long as it is always equal parts).