I was given some nice rattler skins, unfortunatly they are salted and dried, am I wasting my time with these or is there a way to rinse them out and get rid of the salt?
Thanks for the help guys.
Regards.
Bert

Bert, soak the skins in warm water to get them softened. You will have to rinse then a few times to get the salt out but is definitely doable. Once they are rinsed of salt and are still soft you can go right ahead and skin your bow or you can tack the skins out, flesh side up, and let them dry for future use.

that's the kind of skins you want...not tanned skins.  Do like Pat said, rinse them a couple of times and they will work great.
Bob

Thanks guys,
I was hoping they were OK to use.
Bert  

Is tanned the type that feel oily? I have some that are like sued on the flesh side. What would that be considered?

Jim, snake skins that have been "tanned" with antifreeze(glycol) have a slick or greasy feeling to them because of the glycerin that replaces the natural oils in the skin. The ones that are suede on the flesh could be tanned or raw hide and sanded to remove the excess dried tissue.  Generally dried skins are pretty thin and translucent but not always.

Ok thanks.