Tanning steps from the web

I have read several tanning threads on this site, but I'm more a visual learner. I found this: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to- ... bbit-pelt/ It has pictures and is laid out nicely.

I was wondering if it seemed right to yall? I've never tanned an hides and have hopes of doing a deer hide next year. So to get in some practice I was thinking of doing some rabbit hides over the summer.

So what's yalls thoughts?

I wouldn't call denatured alcohol a tanning solution, but it is an effective bactericide and degreaser.
I have mostly seen it being used in europe for taxidermy prep of very small animals, like rodents.

The leather side on that finished pelt looks terrible.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to- ... r-Viewing/
Hmm...
After reading carefully I think I get why.
They didn't scrape the pelt well (I see dried flesh around the edges), and they didn't break it at all.

I've never had to nail a pelt down to scrape it. I just drape rabbit skins over the rounded part small split oak log.

I would not refer to fleshing or scraping as "cutting away the flesh."
Fleshing is done with a dull blade.
There is no cutting or sharp tool necessary for the process, although it is ice to have a very sharp knife handy just for the nipples. The nipple skin rips easily.

Fleshing a rabbit can be accomplished in much less than 1-2 hours. That comment shows me that the person who made the tutorial is extremely inexperienced.

Breaking the leather is how you get the leather side soft and nice. It's done as (not after) the leather dries. It looks like they are counting on over-oiling to compensate for the lack of breaking.


There is WAY too much salt being wasted. It's not necessary to use that much or salt that long for one little rabbit skin.

I'm looking for some pics for you. My RT gallery has some too.

Ah, here is an old tutorial I made, while testing stuff out:
tanning-easy-and-using-vinegar-as-a-pickle-experiment-t18829.html


__________ Mon Feb 15, 2016 8:35 am __________

As an interesting comparison.
This is a hair off rawhide I made the other night. Ripped because my dog started eating it before I could make pet toys out of it.

Made with nothing except elbow grease, my mouse sander, and a fleshing tool (dull antique carpet knife).

No salt. No alcohol. No chemicals or solutions. Not even any oil.
It's a bit papery, and has no stretch.
On the up side, there was no slippage. The fur is effectively preserved so long as it remains dry.

Not a method I'm suggesting for garment quality pelts, but it would work OK for pet toys or wallhangers kept in relatively dry conditions.

My point is that this much can be done with absolutely no tanning ,degreasing, pickling, or oiling at all.
Just fleshing, drying and breaking.

Thank you very much. I was thinking about the salt and the fleshing and it had me thinking. I hadn't read about anyone else taking that long or that much salt. :x I'll have a read through the link you gave. Tried my hand at rabbits feet and well that went horribly wrong. De-gloving and smelled like death. So we'll be trying again this summer.

That instructable doesn't seem quite right but if it works for them that's great. It takes me about half an hour per pelt to flesh and I use the salt/alum method to tan them and it works pretty well. When I break the pelts when they are nearly dry they turn a soft white as it's stretched with my hands which is really cool to watch. My hides turn out nice but I admittedly don't work them as well as I should as they are more of a curiosity project for me than anything. I have some that I tanned a few years ago that the fur is still on and holding well so I'm happy with the method I'm using. It's a bit of work for my hands so I don't do hides on a regular basis but I hate seeing them go in the compost. <br /><br /> __________ Tue Feb 16, 2016 11:09 am __________ <br /><br />

wamplercathy":22518ea6 said:

Thank you very much. I was thinking about the salt and the fleshing and it had me thinking. I hadn't read about anyone else taking that long or that much salt. :x I'll have a read through the link you gave. Tried my hand at rabbits feet and well that went horribly wrong. De-gloving and smelled like death. So we'll be trying again this summer.

Click to expand...

I did some rabbits feet and tails a few years ago based on instructions that I got from a respected person on line and they turned out ok. It's pretty easy, just soak them in isopropyl alcohol for 48 hours and that should do it. I didn't debone the tails as I couldn't figure out how to do it at the time but they turned out ok too.

It was really late while I was typing that, so I wanted to continue a bit.
The fleshing and breaking are the critical parts of making a nice pelt.
There are myriad other steps people add, for all sorts of different reasons...

Brain tanning (or egg or whatever emulsified oil you wish) is done without a preservative, but...traditionally braining was for hair-off leather.
To accomplish a hair-on tan that way, you have to work fast.
Smoking the pelt is a critical part of the process, and from my understanding, that is where the actual "tanning" (chemical altering) occurs.

Bark tanning is usually also for hair-off leather, although there are some that have adapted it to work with fur....It is uncommon.

When it comes to tanning fur-on pelts, some form of preservative substance is generally used to prevent epidermal slip. You know, the part where it stinks and the hair falls off.

Preservatives include salt, alum, alcohol(uncommon), and any number pickling acids..Battery acid https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulfuric_acid#Safety
is often mentioned in old-timey instructions, but there are SO many readily available and safer alternatives...



Alum is probably the oldest substances used for large scale forms of fur pelt preservation. It is acidic, and is sometimes simply used as a pickle before tanning. Sometimes, the alum produces the finished product.
Interestingly it doesn't actually tan a pelt.

From wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanning

Tanning hide into leather involves a process which permanently alters the protein structure of skin.

Click to expand...

That fact alone challenges just about everything most of us know about pelt preservation, and that is that actually tanning the leather is not a necessary step!

Industrial tanning is a bit different now days.
Most furs are actually tanned with chromium. I'm not getting into any debates over the safety of it...But, I think I can safely say that most people prefer not to mess with it at home.

Syntans are synthetic tanning agents, often derived initially from plant sources. They can work well, honestly, they are my favorites. They do cost more to use than some other methods though. Industry tends to use them as retanning agents after an initial chrome bath.

I have to go shovel snow now..... Probably more on this later.

Ok. So from butcher to done pelt:
1. butcher rabbit
2. slice up the middle so it lays flat
3. salt
4. place pelt in solution
5. flesh
6. break
Some drying

Is that the basic run down. If so what's the amounts and times?
I was looking at fleshing knives and homemade ones. They look too large to be used on a rabbit pelt. :? <br /><br /> __________ Fri Feb 19, 2016 7:57 pm __________ <br /><br /> It can't be this easy?!?!?!? :? :shock: :lol: :lol:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU9nOWTBsq0

You are going with the alum method?

Looking at the white bloodless color, that pelt was well pickled, and well pickled pelts are usually a bit easier to flesh. Older rabbits can sometimes be done with the hands like that, but 8-10 week fryer skins tend to rip on me.

I was thinking about what ever you did to the pelts in the 1st post on this thread. No tanning just nice pelts that could be used in crafts.

wamplercathy":yd14oldq said:

I was thinking about what ever you did to the pelts in the 1st post on this thread. No tanning just nice pelts that could be used in crafts.

Click to expand...

With the first pelt I didn't use any salt or solutions...It was just scraped and worked dry. Technically just worked rawhide. I didn't wash or wet the pelt at all, because that would have extended drying times, and thus increased the odds of slip immensely.
Best to start with a clean dry skin, maybe even to the point of trimming away blood stained areas instead of wetting the fur.


I would definitely recommend some kind of oil as a bare minimum for any pelt to get rid of the "papery" quality and add a little stretch (not as much as a syn tan or alum, but definitely better than nothing.

The cheapest and easiest to source would probably be just a little watered down olive oil, with a touch of oil soap (or dish soap) as an emulsifier. For raw skins (in this context, skins not treated with any preservatives), sweating the oil in over night in a warm place is a big no-no.
Best to add the oil it when the skin is semi dry, let it sit somewhere cool (fridge temps) until it's absorbed, and then finish working the pelt dry asap.
Doing each step (fleshing and breaking) in front of a fan can speed the process and further reduce chances of slip.

If your pelts begin slipping (losing hair in smelly patches) at any point, you can stabilize them by soaking in pretty much any preservative that will halt bacterial growth.
I've even seen gasoline mentioned...
But there was never really a need to get that extreme since a mixture of salt and alum, or salt and another acid, even strong vinegar (aka acetic acid) will work.
PH of around 2 for most acids. It's best to stir and check acidity levels daily, litmus strips are cheap), pelts usually soak for 3 days and,
if you use an acid pickle, be sure to neutralize the pelt with a baking soda/water solution after pickling but before tanning or oiling.

Unless it's alum, which I believe isn't neutralized?? Not sure since I don't work with it...