How to tan a hide ?

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Legacy Lane

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I bread my doe today so in 28ish days I should have babies and 12ish weeks later I should butcher, if everything goes right .. I would love to keep the hides for something I just have no idea how to go about it, I have googled it but haven't came up with any good sites... Can some one please inform me on how to go about this :) Thanks!
 
Hi Legacy, there are a few ways to tan hides and there are a few of us here who do it completely different. I go with chemicals bought from tanning stores, I believe Skysthelimit goes with Alum (which I've seen a few people do,) and another one does brain tanning. Sky, myself and another person (sorry other person, I don't remember your name right now lol :oops: ) have posted how-to's with tanning + there is a website here http://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/how-to-tan-a-hide.aspxthat goes over Alum, (I think.)

Here is mine. http://rabbittalk.com/rabbit-tanning-t11969.html

And I'm sure sky can give you plenty of tips for alum.

...and the other person who knows brain tanning can help when he/she sees this too :mrgreen:
 
I do the battery acid and salt tanning solution in a 5 gallon plastic bucket.

2 lbs. rock salt (or any cheap salt)
8 oz. battery acid (from auto-supply store)
stick or wooden spoon for stirring
a scrubbed brick or rock
Run 1 gallon of hot water into the bucket, add salt and stir to dissolve. Add 1 gallon of cool water (not cold). Water temp. should be about 70 degrees.

Put a ceramic plate to any non reactive flat disk over the hides in the solution, then the brick or rock to hold them down. You will want to stir them twice a day for a week, then take them out and rinse them, then remove any remaining flesh off the inside of the hide. Now put them back in the solution for at least another week, but can be up to a year if you don't get to them before then.

Once tanned, take them out and rinse them again, then hang them over the porch railing or a saw horse to dry. As soon as you see a patch of white on the hide (first sign of drying) work the hide back and forth over the railing until it is all white, soft and dry (yes that takes some time) That's it, you're done, you have a soft, tanned rabbit hide (or several hides as the case may be)
 
I flesh an older rabbit hide (fryers are really not worth the bother, they are sooooo thin ) and wash really well in soapy water. After a couple of rinses to get the soap out I roll it into a towel and then walk all over it. That gets the excess water out of the hide.

Then I take the brains of about 4 rabbits all smushed into a paste and rub it well into the hide side.

Let it dry for a bit until tacky and then gently stretch and pull and stretch and pull and stretch and pull etc. until the hide is all the way dry, soft, white and fluffy furred.

Then, when enough have been done, tack to a board - fur side hidden - and put over a smoky fire.

And keep out of the reach of your dog! Lost all my first batch of hides down the worthless dogs throat! :evil:
 
I put one cup of alum and one cup of non-oidized salt in about 2/3 of a five gallon bucket of warm water and put the hides in. After two or three days I remove, rinse and scrape the flesh off. I add another cup each of alum and salt to the water and put the hides back in for about seven days. After that I remove, rinse the hides and hang them up until they are slightly damp. then, using my hands, I pull and stretch the hides until they turn white. It's very cool to see them turn white and soften as I work them. Then I lightly shampoo them with a very weak shampoo mixture (I use Pert Plus) only on the fur side them rinse it out and hang to dry. Makes a very soft, nice smelling hide. I have some that are a couple of years old and the fur is still on and not shedding.
 
I believe it was Lastfling. There's a books worth of info in that last thread.
 
I like to use commercial tanning products. Especially the chrome-free syntans.
They do have the downside of being more expensive than alum.

This is my personal favorite beginners kit:
http://www.fntpost.com/Products/Tanning ... anning+Kit
It comes with relatively easy to follow instructions.
Using a method such as:
salt, rehydrate, pickle, degrease and final flesh, tan, oil, dry and break.

The only things not included are salt, baking soda(necessary for neutralizing acids), and litmus strips for checking PH.(not necessary but extremely helpful and strongly recommended, can be ordered from Amazon.com)

I guess you also need a bucket, gloves, and a good fleshing knife.

:D Like rabbit raising, tanning also has it's own learning curve. It can take some time and experimentation to find out what method works best for your individual situation.

Here's one I did where I was playing with some different (less expensive) chemicals, a brush on tan and vinegar instead of the usual pickling acid I use. It shows my fleshing tools and such pretty well.

tanning-easy-and-using-vinegar-as-a-pickle-experiment-t18829.html
 
Legacy Lane":13vfncel said:
I bread my doe today so in 28ish days I should have babies and 12ish weeks later I should butcher, if everything goes right .. I would love to keep the hides for something I just have no idea how to go about it, I have googled it but haven't came up with any good sites... Can some one please inform me on how to go about this :) Thanks!
Click to expand...

I liked Johnny Thorpe's Indian Tan Tanning Solution but because I couldn't keep it at room temp, I lost a coyote hide.

I am currently testing out DixieTan Paste (this stuff smells FANTASTIC -- if you like the smell of root beer) & will let you know how it goes.

You can also use Trapper's Hide Tanning Formula which I've heard good things about but have not tried myself.

Tandy Leather also sells a pre-mixed tanning solution I hear good things about but have not tried.

Brain tanning is really easy but takes quite a bit of time and a lot more effort but I hear the tan is well worth it. I've yet to try it.

Also - If you plan to skin them as mountable hides and sell them to taxidermists (or people who like to do soft mounts) and you plan to sell them at higher rates or even if you're crafting items and selling them for a decent price it may be worth your time to even ship them to a tannery. I enjoy Moyle Mink's pricing a lot better but you can find a lot cheaper tanneries who do a tip top tan for a really nice price if you look hard enough.

Best of luck! I've been tanning all kinds or pelts for a while now and have befriended quite a few taxidermists and their apprentices. :) I've never tried the batter acid method but it sounds scary. Truckinguy's method works well also. :)
 
Thank you for the wonderful information! I am completely new to raising meat bunnies and have decided to tan the fur. I want to try and use as much of the rabbit as I can, but I still have questions. I will have bunnies ready to go in 4 weeks and I am trying to research and be as ready to go as possible. :)

I have been able to figure out what I can do with an alum and salt mix once I am done with it, like homemade weed killer. But how do I safely get rid of the acid and salt mix? Or the other tanning options? I am not comfortable with putting it down the drain, I have a septic tank.
 
Jinxy52":26a6u7pz said:
Thank you for the wonderful information! I am completely new to raising meat bunnies and have decided to tan the fur. I want to try and use as much of the rabbit as I can, but I still have questions. I will have bunnies ready to go in 4 weeks and I am trying to research and be as ready to go as possible. :)

I have been able to figure out what I can do with an alum and salt mix once I am done with it, like homemade weed killer. But how do I safely get rid of the acid and salt mix? Or the other tanning options? I am not comfortable with putting it down the drain, I have a septic tank.
Click to expand...

Most of the syn-tan products are compatible with any acid.

That means you can opt for something non-toxic, like citric or acetic acid. You just neutralize with baking soda, and once neutralized, it will pose no danger to a septic tank, plant, or animal life.
 
Zass":1jrbo80q said:
Most of the syn-tan products are compatible with any acid.

That means you can opt for something non-toxic, like citric or acetic acid. You just neutralize with baking soda, and once neutralized, it will pose no danger to a septic tank, plant, or animal life.
Click to expand...

Thank you! I have been very worried about what to do with the solution. I was thinking about using and Alum/salt mixture, but after everything I have read here and on other sites I am seriously thinking I should switch.

Again Thank you!
 
image.php


I just finished this whitetail with a cheap brush on phenolic syn-tan.

It spent all winter salted (not a required step, just a way to preserve it).
I re-hydrated and pickled with saftee acid and salt. (unless your working with alum, a pickle is not a tan, it's an acid solution used to stabilize pelts and prepare them for tanning)

Neutralized the pelt (baking soda and water)

Actually tanning time was about 8 hours. The stuff tans and oils in one step. So after you rinse the tan off, you just have to dry and break.

Breaking is working it soft as it dries. NOT AFTER
If I had something else to do, I popped the pelt into the freezer, so that it didn't dry out stiff when I was too busy to mess with it.
 
GBov":2ymedbp0 said:
I flesh an older rabbit hide (fryers are really not worth the bother, they are sooooo thin ) and wash really well in soapy water. After a couple of rinses to get the soap out I roll it into a towel and then walk all over it. That gets the excess water out of the hide.

Then I take the brains of about 4 rabbits all smushed into a paste and rub it well into the hide side.
Click to expand...


Do you need to prep the brains in any way? Or do you use them raw? Also, can the brains be used to tan other hides or just rabbit? I've read somewhere that each animal has enough brain matter to tan it's own hide, but it's been so long since I read it I can't remember
 
Gearmpr":3hcayvf5 said:
GBov":3hcayvf5 said:
I flesh an older rabbit hide (fryers are really not worth the bother, they are sooooo thin ) and wash really well in soapy water. After a couple of rinses to get the soap out I roll it into a towel and then walk all over it. That gets the excess water out of the hide.

Then I take the brains of about 4 rabbits all smushed into a paste and rub it well into the hide side.
Click to expand...


Do you need to prep the brains in any way? Or do you use them raw? Also, can the brains be used to tan other hides or just rabbit? I've read somewhere that each animal has enough brain matter to tan it's own hide, but it's been so long since I read it I can't remember
Click to expand...

Yes, pick out ALL the bits of bone from splitting the skull or they will hurt you and blood is hard to get out of a new hide! :lol:

Other than that I just use the mashed, raw, brains.

And whoever said that about the one brain, one hide thing is either a better tanner than I am or laughing themselves sick that its still around. 4 is the absolute minimum that has done the job with me and usually I need more halfway through the job. :roll:
 
GBov":30ulsf12 said:
Gearmpr":30ulsf12 said:
GBov":30ulsf12 said:
I flesh an older rabbit hide (fryers are really not worth the bother, they are sooooo thin ) and wash really well in soapy water. After a couple of rinses to get the soap out I roll it into a towel and then walk all over it. That gets the excess water out of the hide.

Then I take the brains of about 4 rabbits all smushed into a paste and rub it well into the hide side.
Click to expand...


Do you need to prep the brains in any way? Or do you use them raw? Also, can the brains be used to tan other hides or just rabbit? I've read somewhere that each animal has enough brain matter to tan it's own hide, but it's been so long since I read it I can't remember
Click to expand...

Yes, pick out ALL the bits of bone from splitting the skull or they will hurt you and blood is hard to get out of a new hide! :lol:

Other than that I just use the mashed, raw, brains.

And whoever said that about the one brain, one hide thing is either a better tanner than I am or laughing themselves sick that its still around. 4 is the absolute minimum that has done the job with me and usually I need more halfway through the job. :roll:
Click to expand...

Gbov, my bunnies must have big brains. :shock: I tried this last night and felt that four brains produced way too much oil for one 5 lb fryer pelt.

I suppose it's probably because fryer pelts are smallish and thin.
 
I used half a pigs brain on a rex pelt (about 5 month old rex) and it badly needed more brains in several spots.

Perhaps its a case of each pelt is as individual as each rabbit is?
 
GBov":7uo0ewh7 said:
I used half a pigs brain on a rex pelt (about 5 month old rex) and it badly needed more brains in several spots.

Perhaps its a case of each pelt is as individual as each rabbit is?
Click to expand...

It could be. 1/2 a pigs brain sounds like a awful lot of oil though. I mean, this stuff is...greasy.
 
Ohh lol I see, yea I think it was in some Indian method I read about idk lol. And so pretty just wash it off real good and mash it up huh? That's not too bad. How much water should I use/what consistency should the mixture be? <br /><br /> __________ Fri Aug 15, 2014 4:48 pm __________ <br /><br /> Think maybe the mixture affects how much it covers?
 
Zass":1ymadyw1 said:
GBov":1ymadyw1 said:
I used half a pigs brain on a rex pelt (about 5 month old rex) and it badly needed more brains in several spots.

Perhaps its a case of each pelt is as individual as each rabbit is?
Click to expand...

It could be. 1/2 a pigs brain sounds like a awful lot of oil though. I mean, this stuff is...greasy.
Click to expand...

And yet it didn't go as far as it should have. Each time the hide started to dry with a crinkle I added more brain mash - no water added, just mashed brains - and worked it in and kept stretching.
 

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