I tanned a axis deer hide last year, followed the directions on the orange bottle of tanning solution but I skipped the step of soaking in salt water bath because that seemed to make no sense. I salted it 3 times to pull out the moisture and couldn't understand why I would put it back in water? Well maybe now I understand that the salt bath helps to preserve it further. The rest of the tanning process worked out great and I now have a soft tan that looks great hanging over the couch but stinks. I've tried to spray it with febreze but that only hides the smell for a few days then I have to re-apply.

My question is can I now soak it in a salt bath to help remove the stink (will that even work?) and if I do will I have to re-apply the tanning solution and soften again?

Thanks

The smell is from bacteria, tanning directions are quite specific, skipping the soaking step probably did you in, rub on tans are tricky to begin with, remember salt does not tan, its only a short term preservative and a very important part of any tanning process.
Sorry to hear about your experience, I would highly recommend one of the do it yourself tanning kits from van Dykes supply Co.
Or send it off to a professional.
DC

Thanks, I did salt it 3 times to pull the moisture out then applied the tanning solution. I also fleshed it very well

I tanned another hide a few weeks ago and did all the steps including the salt bath step and it doesn't seem to smell yet but this one came out very very stiff and I cant get it to soften. Maybe I'm just good at this. I'm in central Texas, I called taxidermist and they want $300 and it takes 6 months to get it back. We have a local store here that sells Axis hides for $200 I might just go that route and toss these two.

North Texas Tannery tans hides for $45 each. Just got two axis doe hides back last week and they look great. No smell. Takes them about 6-7 months, but beats a smelly hide...

Putting a "tanning solution" on a skin is not tanning it. Tanning a hide into leather is a long process that requires several steps. Washing, Pickling, shaving , Pickling some more, neutralizing, tanning bath, oiling , staking and tumbling.