Tiger Skin Rug - Repair & Restoration

Roger,
I came across some of your posts on taxidermy forums for restoring dried and cracked animal rugs.
Attached are some pictures of a tiger rug I recently acquired and wanted to see about which kit your recommend for using on this project.
In addition, a friend of mine suggested that I add some kind of fresh leather (buckskin or other) patch to the back of the skin where its cracked to add some reinforcement and backing to help slow the further deterioration.
I know the rug seems to be 'beyond repair' which is fine as I wasn't expecting to put it back to new, but rather just stabilize it to prevent further decay.
Please let me know.
Thanks regards,
-Pat

#1
Attachment 3854

#2
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#3
Attachment 3856

#4
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#5
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#6
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#7
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>>> restoring dried animal rugs

Dried skin is the result of diminishes original fatliquor (fat & oil) content and restored by Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 > Hydrator-3.3 system. The dried skin is hydrated with moisture oozing between finger and thumb when gently pressed and leave to relax the dried skin with control evaporation up to 72hrs. When the skin is plumped it will all lay flat and the some “mud cracking effect” vanishes. This preconditioning opens up the inter-fibrillary spaces and allows easy excess for the fatliquor to distribute evenly. As the water contents of the fatliquor evaporates more is replenished until the suede side is fully saturated and when complete dry may read up to 14% of moisture (fat and oil) contents. This process is done on periodic basis (yearly to 3yearly depending from location to location or the surrounding environment) just like the topping up of our car engine oil. When fatliquor content stays within 10 to 14% the skin will NEVER crack!


>>> restoring cracked animal rugs

Repairs to cracks are by Bond-3D with donor fiber from skin of similar tanning type. The donor fiber is bond to the suede skin with the help of Bond-3D similar to fiberglass repairs technique. The end result the bond and donor fiber becomes part of the skin itself with a darkening effect looks like healing natural scars, stronger than surrounding areas.


>>> to add some reinforcement

Adding of reinforcement for weak leather structure after fatliquoring is done by impregnating Impregnator-26 into the leather structure and becomes part of the skin.


>>> In addition, a friend of mine suggested that I add some kind of fresh leather (buckskin or other) patch to the back of the skin where its cracked to add some reinforcement and backing to help slow the further deterioration.

Pictures from the suede skin side will help determine the tanning type, example bluish grey would suggest “Chrome-Tanned” and white or cream color may suggest “Alum-Tanned”. Alum comes in washable and non-washable and need to be careful not to leach out the tanning-agent for the non-washable types (that is do not allow any liquid to leach out of the skin, otherwise its un-tanned or denatured. Recommend to used the same tanning type of donor fiber, which is “buckskin” tanning type that matches the tiger tanning type. Note: Long-term repairs are done with donor fiber so that it is homogenous lightweight and strong just like fiberglass repairs, without piggy backing and stressing the tiger out.


>>> which kit your recommend for using on this project.

Leather Doctor Kit H7 - Hair-on-Hide Rip Repair & Standard Care kit
Attachment 3861
Leather Doctor Kit H7 - Hair-on-Hide Rip Repair & Standard Care kit is with two add-on products Bond-3D and Patch-4S to our standard care Kit H4. Leather Bond-3D is for hair-on hides and skin rip and tear repair. This water-based medium soft polyurethane bonds the leather fibers when dries and becomes part of the leather. It will require close contact until it dries to bond that becomes part of the leather. Reinforcement is either with donor suede fibers taken from surrounding areas or scrap pieces similar to fiberglass repairs techniques for better appearance or with Patch-4S for extra strength. Generally repair is done after the hide or skin in rejuvenated with Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 system. Prior to rejuvenating the skin or hide to soften and strengthen it, dry soil is removed by using suede Brush-3 and Eraser-5. General cleaning is done with Clean-3.8 follows with Rinse-3.0 on the skin or hide side. The hair side is clean using Clean-5.5 follows with Rinse-4.0. Protector-S+ impart a rub-resistant silky-feel to lubricates the hair from abrasion wear and a non-stick properties to shield the hair from sticky soiling with a classic leather scent to charm. Note that the mentioned product suffix number denotes its pH value in this leather-safe holistic care system for hair-on-hide.

Leather Doctor Kit H7 - Hair-on-Hide Rip Repair & Standard Care kit is with two add-on products Bond-3D and Patch-4S to our standard care Kit H4.
Leather Bond-3D is for hair-on hides and skin rip and tear repair.
This water-based medium soft polyurethane bonds the leather fibers when dries and becomes part of the leather.
It will require close contact until it dries to bond that becomes part of the leather.
Reinforcement is either with donor suede fibers taken from surrounding areas or scrap pieces similar to fiberglass repairs techniques for better appearance or with Patch-4S for extra strength.
Generally repair is done after the hide or skin in rejuvenated with Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 system.
Prior to rejuvenating the skin or hide to soften and strengthen it, dry soil is removed by using suede Brush-3 and Eraser-5.
General cleaning is done with Clean-3.8 follows with Rinse-3.0 on the skin or hide side.
The hair side is clean using Clean-5.5 follows with Rinse-4.0.
Protector-S+ impart a rub-resistant silky-feel to lubricates the hair from abrasion wear and a non-stick properties to shield the hair from sticky soiling with a classic leather scent to charm. Note that the mentioned product suffix number denotes its pH value in this leather-safe holistic care system for hair-on-hide.

We will go into more details the best approach when you have your products ready.

Roger Koh
Leather Care Consultant
[email protected]
www.LeatherDoctor.com

For your general reading. . .
Leather Approximate Quantity or Percentage of Fatliquor:
The quantities of fatliquor (fat and oil) contents retained in the leather after an universal tannery fatliquoring process may varies up to 14% depending on the leather types and it usage. This percentage drops as the fat and oil content diminishes or leaches through ageing, water, heat or chemical overexposure.
Leather rejuvenating or fatliquor replenishing is base on weight of the leather in relation to the percentage of remaining fatliquor. A simple calculation of percentage of fatliquor topping up requirement would be as follows:
If the weight of the leather in question is 100gm and fatliquor (fat and oil) content meter reading is less than 1%.
By applying 80gm of Fatliquor-5.0 to it will deliver an end result incremental of 13.3% fatliquor when dry as the 66.6% water contents evaporates.
In the leather rejuvenating Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 > Hydrator-3.3 system, Hydrator-3.3 plays an important role by relaxing, opening up the inter-fibrillary spaces, facilitating and redistributing colloidal water movement, protonating and doing all the pre-conditioning work prior to fatliquoring including cleaning up any excess surface remnants to have a sticky-free surface. In practice the ratio for Hydrator-3.3 is 2 to 1 of Fatliquor-5.0.
It works out to be approximately 160gm of Hydrator-3.3 plus 80gm of Fatliquor-5.0 to replenish a 100gm dry leather from less than 1% back to the original tannery up to 14% fatliquor content.

Attachment 3862
Leather Doctor® Impregnator-26 is design for structural weakness on pigmented and aniline smooth leather types. This is a protein compact resin-blend compound for impregnating worn leather grains and micro cracks. It is to seal, strengthen and leveling out uneven absorption for further coating process. It fills and tightens with good leveling properties that is film forming for improve abrasion resistance.
Instruction:
1. Shake well; pad to saturate all weak and absorbent areas.
2. Concentrate on weak areas otherwise wipe off unnecessary excess to reduce buildup.
3. Sand off surface buildup when dry with 1000/2000grit sandpaper.

#1 Tiger Front
Attachment 3916


#2 Tiger Back
Attachment 3917

#3 Tail Front
Attachment 3921


#4 Tail Back
Attachment 3922

Follows these sequence of processes - working on the back or reverse suede side of the tail.

Dry Soil Removal:
1: Use the white suede Eraser-5 and remove all foreign dry residue from the skin and we will make an intelligent guestimation of the tanning type.

2: Just only a foot from the tip, take a close-up picture and we will go from there.

>>> Roger,
The entire back of the skin has a sticky coating on it....it seems like it's either the glue used to bond the gauze attached to the skin currently or may have been from a previous glued down backing of felt or some other lining and when it was removed they did not strip the glue. How does this affect our prep for the restoration and what steps should I take?


#1
Attachment 3923


#1A
Attachment 3925


#2
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#2A
Attachment 3926

>>> How does this affect our prep for the restoration and what steps should I take?

There is no way we can rejuvenate the skin/hide from the back, we need to have a close-up of the front.

Picture #1A shows the hide/skin (leather) between the hair and the backing. The leather (suede from back and hair from front) is the layer that needs to be rejuvenated to soften and strengthen up and the only excess is by the hair side. The hair is comb back to reveal the leather crust and Hydrator-3.3 is applied to saturate it, when fully relaxed the cracking gaps should closed up. Thereafter Fatliquor-5.0 is replenished so that it will plumps up the leather and soften in when dry. Repair is the next phase when the leather is dry.

Prior to rejuvenated the leather from the hair sides, the hair is to be clean first as follows in the following sequences:

A. Hair-on Hide (Hair Side Cleaning)
The objective of this process is to remove general surface soiling from the hair from being move into the leather from the Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 Hydrator-3.3 processes.

1st phase – Dry Soil Removal:
1.1 Vacuum off foreign soiling with help of Suede Brush-3 to groom in the lay direction.

2nd phase – Wet Soil Removal:
2.1 Apply Clean-5.5, brush along the lay of hair in one direction and towel extract until it shows clean.
2.2 Spray Rinse-4.0 and towel extract to a squeaky clean.
2.3 Let natural drying and dry towel wipe of wick-up soiling.

3rd phase – Hydrating to relax the curls and closing up the cracking gaps. The hide/skin with loose pieces should be flattened by hydrating. Hydrating up to 72hrs depending on severity of dryness (optimum fatliquor content of fat and oil percentage is 14% when dry) with evaporation control will produce the best result.
3.1 Comb back the lay of hair gently and spray Hydrator-3.3 to the base of the hair letting the leather soak it up and spread evenly throughout the entire surface.
3.2 Optimum hydrating is to enable a little moisture oozing out of the leather when press between finger and thumb.
3.3 The saturated area (that is one foot from the tip of the tail for a test run – we have not able to identify the tanning type as yet – alum tanning is not a “true tanning” thus need extra caution not to leach out the tanning agent) is covered with plastic cling wrapper to control evaporation and allow it to dwell up to 72hrs.
3.4 Inspection on periodic interval will determine the softening and the closing up of cracking gaps to satisfaction.
3.5 The plastic covering is removed and allow evaporation with periodic fatliquoring process.

4th phase – Fatliquor replenishing up to 14% of fat and oil content when dry will produce a leather (hide/skin) as soft as you wish and maintaining at this high level will never crack the leather (hide/skin).
4.1 The Fatliquor-5.0 is applied in a similar manner as the Hydrator-3.3.
4.2 In each drying cycle when the water content evaporates more is applied.

5th phase – Cleaning up of Fatliquor-5.0 to eliminate any stickiness to the hair sides.
5.1 Hydrator-3.3 is spray over the hair and wipe to remove any sticky residue to a squeaky feel.

6th phase – Non-stick rub-resistant protection from sticky soiling and breakage.
5.2 Protector-S+ is to condition the hair with a non-stick, silky-feel hair.

We will like to see pictures of progresses up to this stage before we go into repairs.

Remember, the above instruction is only a testing of 1 foot from the tip of the tail for inspection and evaluation.

Remember to take pictures of every phase so that we know you are following the instruction correctly.

Roger Koh
Leather Care Consultant
[email protected]
www.LeatherDoctor.com

>>> i don't understand what you mean by
"4.1 The Fatliquor-5.0 is applied in a similar manner as the Hydrator-3.3.
4.2 In each drying cycle when the water content evaporates more is applied."



>>> what cycle?

While the leather is hydrated and almost dry still damp, Fatliquor-5.0 is applied in the same manner as the Hydrator-3.3 into the leather structure with the help of combing back the hair.


>>> so i let the hydrator soak for 72 hours while wrapped in plastic then i remove the plastic and soak it with the fatliquor and allow that to evaporate naturally?

Objective of the Hydrator-3.3 is to relax the leather, almost all water contents will evaporates. When let it dry again the leather will again be stiff without suppleness. That is why Fatliquor-5.0 is applied while the leather structure is still damp to allow the fatliquor for even distribution. Fatliquor-5.0 water contents will evaporates as well leaving behind the fat and oil essential for leather suppleness. As each cycle of fatliquor content evaporation more is applied until the leather suppleness is achieved when dry.

For your further readings:

Fatliquor-5.0 Product Description:

Leather Doctor® Fatliquor-5.0, a micro emulsion of fat, oil and water is an anionic charged pH 5.0 fatliquor for rejuvenating all leather types. It relaxes coarse breaks, creases and wrinkles enhance suppleness and prevent cracking. It softens the leather with stretchability, compressibility and flexibility, while enhancing its rip tensile strength greatly. It is for replenishing the original fat and oil that diminishes thru sun-bleaching, ageing, heat and alkaline overexposure or cleaning. On application, the water-encased molecule breaks free when hydrogen bond attraction takes place between the fat and oil with the protein fiber. The excess free water content wicks out leaving a breathing space behind for leather natural transpiration. The fat plumps the leather with fullness from easily collapsing into creases and wrinkles during stress or flex, while the oil lubricates the fibers so that they slide over one another smoothly like millions of inter-connecting hinges. Thus helps to keep leather at its optimum physical performance and prevent premature ageing. This universal Fatliquor-5.0 is for all leather types including pigmented, aniline, vachetta, nubuck, suede, hair-on-hide and woolskin.

Leather Approximate Quantity or Percentage of Fatliquor:

The quantities of fatliquor (fat and oil) contents retained in the leather after an universal tannery fatliquoring process may varies up to 14% depending on the leather types and it usage. This percentage drops as the fat and oil content diminishes or leaches through ageing, water, heat or chemical overexposure.
Leather rejuvenating or fatliquor replenishing is base on weight of the leather in relation to the percentage of remaining fatliquor. A simple calculation of percentage of fatliquor topping up requirement would be as follows:
If the weight of the leather in question is 100gm and fatliquor (fat and oil) content meter reading is less than 1%.
By applying 80gm of Fatliquor-5.0 to it will deliver an end result incremental of 13.3% fatliquor when dry as the 66.6% water contents evaporates.
In the leather rejuvenating Hydrator-3.3 > Fatliquor-5.0 > Hydrator-3.3 system, Hydrator-3.3 plays an important role by relaxing, opening up the inter-fibrillary spaces, facilitating and redistributing colloidal water movement, protonating and doing all the pre-conditioning work prior to fatliquoring including cleaning up any excess surface remnants to have a sticky-free surface. In practice the ratio for Hydrator-3.3 is 2 to 1 of Fatliquor-5.0.
It works out to be approximately 160gm of Hydrator-3.3 plus 80gm of Fatliquor-5.0 to replenish a 100gm dry leather from less than 1% back to the original tannery up to 14% fatliquor content.

Instruction:
1 Apply Fatliquor-5.0 and redistribute with foam brush until saturation.
2 Repeat application each time water contents evaporate until fully saturated.
3 Drive remaining surface remnants free of milky fat and oil until it turns clear with Hydrator-3.3.
4 Allow natural drying for extra softness.

Tips:
1 When crispy dry, prior surface contaminations/damages may darkens as soiling particulates resurface.
2 Removes soiling particulates with Eraser-4 for all leathers including nubuck and Eraser-5 for suede.
3 Stretching the darken areas lightly will also lightens the appearance.

Dog turned a portion of tail into confetti, I'm in the process of RE-hydrating that section and playing jigsaw puzzle w the remains. What and how should I photograph it to show the steps?

Attachment 3944

>>> Dog turned a portion of tail into confetti, I'm in the process of RE-hydrating that section and playing jigsaw puzzle w the remains.

Thanks to our dog for lesson on patience.


>>> What and how should I photograph it to show the steps?

Picture shows the unnecessary bending of the tail. Since we have only the hair side to work on, it would be more appropriate to turn the hair side up.
Explain how you have come to this stage and if possible have a picture in action so that I will know that you have done it right. Example what tools does you use to part the hair, a comb, a slicker. Do you have difficulties in applying the Hydrator-3.3 and Fatliquor-5.0? How long did you have the Hydrator-3.3 dwell and did it relax and soften up the leather while damp? Did any gap closed up. How was the Fatliquor-5.0 process? Did it make the leather supple with softness and increases strength when dry?