Tanning rabbit hides

[golden rabbitry]

So I'm learning to tan hides, I'll be fleshing them later today after soaking in alum and salt for a week. I was wondering who else tans hides and what you guys do with them. My friend and co breeder breeds calis and butchers for a lot of people so I have new zealands, flemish, holland, californian, ect to just mess around with, rex in the future

 

[eco2pia]

I am saving hides for a few projects--I want a throw blanket, and a collar for a coat I have--(it currently has a detachable faux fur collar). Beyond that I may have a few scraps for crafting and trims, but I may stop tanning hides after that. it is a fair bit of work for something you don't have a plan for and I happen to live in a part of the country where fur wearing is considered unethical. I could buck that trend, but I am not sure I have the will.

 

[Xanous]

So I'm learning to tan hides, I'll be fleshing them later today after soaking in alum and salt for a week. I was wondering who else tans hides and what you guys do with them. My friend and co breeder breeds calis and butchers for a lot of people so I have new zealands, flemish, holland, californian, ect to just mess around with, rex in the future

How did that method work out? I am planning to do the same soon.

 

[eco2pia]

How did that method work out? I am planning to do the same soon.

This is also approximately the method I use (I use the alum salt method published in Mother Earth News forever ago--available online), however I'm lazy and it's always more than a week in each brine...I think I get away with that because I generally tan in a cold garage. If temps are 45-50°F, the process will be slower. Be more prompt if you are tanning at 70°F+.

 

[Olbunny]

This is also approximately the method I use (I use the alum salt method published in Mother Earth News forever ago--available online), however I'm lazy and it's always more than a week in each brine...I think I get away with that because I generally tan in a cold garage. If temps are 45-50°F, the process will be slower. Be more prompt if you are tanning at 70°F+.

Thanks, how did you do your process and how did they turn out.

 

[Preitler]

Also use salt, acid and alum. Got good results in the past.

Just made one hat, and have a bag of tanned hides, too good to discard but waiting for a use. I still have 2 hides in the salt+acid bucket from last year, normally I leave them in there for 2 days before fleshing, adding the alum after that, well, 2 days are 7 months now. I wonder if it still would work, acid is strong enough so there is no decay. A thousend other things to do first though, and the lack of a project kinda curbs my enthusiasm for plucking flesh from hides...

 

[Xanous]

Acid? What acid? I thought salt and alum was all that was needed.

 

[Preitler]

Hm, I pickle the hides in salt (1/10 by weight) and use either formic acid (harmless) or sulphuric acid (not harmless) to get the ph down to 3-4. after 1-2 days in the pickle they are easier to flesh. I also maintain that ph after adding the alum (also 1/10 per weight) to the solution. I heat the solution to dessolve the alum and let it cool before putting the hides back in. After a week, or a month, I rinse the hides, put it in fresh water and neutralize the acid to a ph of about 6-7 (sodium hydroxide solution, just have lots of that around, there are safer options), for a day to leech out the acid. Then i dry them.

 

[eco2pia]

Acid? What acid? I thought salt and alum was all that was needed.

Both options work. Preitler is using a belt and suspenders method, but it likely works also.

The type of acid is only somewhat important. I tried using muriatic acid previously which was mentioned somewhere...but I found that it really ruined the bright copper red pelts I had at the time--the hide tanned just fine, and was preserved and soft. The fur stayed on. But the color of the fur faded, and in retrospect that is not really surprising considering that I chose an acid with chlorine in it. See link below for additional acid recipe.

Thanks, how did you do your process and how did they turn out.

I currently use this article and the recipe #1. How to Tan a Rabbit Hide – Mother Earth News I like it very well and my hides are quite lovely.