How much tannin is in tea?

When reading about veg tanning not too long ago I suddenly realized that my favorite drink is STUFFED with tannins and, if I buy a big box of tea bags, it will be MUCH easier than trying to chop up oak twigs. :lol:

So does anyone know off hand the tannin % of basic tea bags?

Feel a bit of a numpty, only just looked at my dryer (it came with the house) and found it has a 70 min no heat fluff cycle.

Will be cutting blocks and tumbling some hides next week for sure!

Was going to make a breaker with the three wheeled bike but my brother just called "DIBS!" as he lives on an island so wants it to tool round on. Says its a crime to not fix and use it as a proper bike instead of an experimental hide breaker. :lol: And anyway, other than the noise being a pest, the dryer does a grand job.

What defines "basic tea"? Not much though. Like 3% max for green and that's the strongest I drink. Black tea is probably the only thing that might be high but in extremely variable quantities. My tea is all rosehips, orange peel, chicory, and hibiscus base with a fruit or extra spices. Why is christmas blend seasonal?

I have often wondered about seasonal things Akane, like eggnog. There is a fantastic organic one on the market but ONLY for a very short time. :evil:

Strong black tea is the tea I am asking about. Have tried trolling the web but no luck so far.

Have you read this site?

http://www.braintan.com/barktan/2tannins.htm

He suggests buying shredded bark mulch.

Shredded bark from sawmills sold as garden mulch is excellent for bark tanning (assuming it hasn't been left out in the rain a bunch).

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There's a mill near here that does do oak but I haven't seen any that separate bark from heartwood when cutting hardwood trees and I don't know the range of tannin contents throughout an oak tree. You can buy a variety of sizes of oak products for grills including bark chips and in sawdust form but I dunno if there is a suitable type and bulk enough for the price. I just came across it all because I needed to setup a feather millipede breeding enclosure that eat rotting oak wood and my bronchitis was keeping me from tromping around the woods messing with moldy fallen trees.

I was wondering about tea because I dont want to mess about with bark. :lol: And tea is cheap cheap cheap and easy to get.

In the past I have tanned a few things with very strong black tea but it was all by guess rather than actually knowing what I was doing. Still, the mouse hides have held up for over 20 years so tea does work!

This evening I cut a two by two into blocks and by gum, they dont half make a noise :shock: so shall see how the one hide looks in a few moments. Its nothing special so as an experiment its perfect. <br /><br /> __________ Sat Oct 07, 2017 3:00 pm __________ <br /><br /> 5 doe and 5 buck hides soaked up about 3 cups of very strong black tea. I sponged it onto the hide side to keep the fur as dry as poss.

Let dry for a bit and rubbed about as much Neetsfoot oil as clung to my hands when I dipped them into a bowl of same. So perhaps half a teaspoons worth per hide.

Let dry a bit more and then put into dryer with blocks of 2 by 2 and 2 by 4, non longer than 5 inches or shorter than 2 inches.

Talk about a noise! It aint got rhythm, thats for sure! :lol:

Two are now done to my satisfaction, very soft hide and fluffy fur. Three are almost done but one of the bucks might as well be rhino hide its so tough.

Did you do anything to the hides before hand? Or are these just straight fleshed and frozen?

Shea":1ll2zizv said:

Did you do anything to the hides before hand? Or are these just straight fleshed and frozen?

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Fleshed, dried, sponged with tea - 25 bags into 6 cups of water and boiled hard - then slightly dried, oiled, rubbed well, into dryer with wooden blocks.

The fryer hides and the doe hides have finished really nicely but still working on the buck hides. The tumble setting is only 70 min long so when ever I think of it I toss them all in and let it crash bang till it either turns off when done or the door opens and I have to start it again.

As hobbies go its a noisy one :lol: but the done hides have the kid approval rating of "THIS ONE IS MINNNNNNE!!!!"