If you are a hunter and you kill animals to eat their meat, you may find it helpful to use their skin as well. Treating the leather with a suitable tanning ensures you as a result a soft piece of leather with which to make clothes, shoes or even just to hang as a decoration. Read on to learn about two tanning methods, the first more traditional uses the oils contained in the brain of the killed animal, and the second, faster and more modern, uses chemicals.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Tanning with the Use of Brain Oils
Step 1. Clean the skin of meat and fat
This operation involves removing the part of muscle and fat that is still attached to the skin, and prevents the skin from developing decomposition processes later on. Hang the skin on a special pole or stick that will hold it in place and taut as you do this. Use a scraper or knife to remove any visible traces of fat or meat; make quick movements and apply pressure for a better result.
- Do this immediately after skinning your pet. If you leave it for a few hours, the leather begins to decompose with the risk of breaking during tanning.
- Be careful not to cut the skin as you remove muscle and fat. Do not use non-specific knives, and avoid scratching or cutting the leather.
Step 2. Wash your skin
Use clean water and a natural-based soap to clean any residue of dirt, blood and other impurities before starting tanning.
Step 3. Dry it
Let the leather dry for a few days before you start tanning it. Make holes in its ends and spread it out on a frame to allow it to dry as it is rolled out and pulled. The special facility is for sale in hunting gear shops.
- Make sure the leather is in tension as it dries, not just hanging. The more it is stretched, the larger will be the size reached once the tanning is completed.
- If you hang the skin to dry on a wall or fence, make sure that the air can also circulate on the surface that rests against the support, otherwise it will not dry evenly.
- Depending on the climate and the season, drying can take up to a week.
Step 4. Remove the hair
Remove the skin from the structure on which it was stretched to iron and dry, and use a special tool to remove the hair from the entire surface. This operation allows the chemicals used for tanning to penetrate deeply into the leather.
- If the hair is long, trim it before removing it. For removal, act against the grain, and with movements that start close to the body to move away.
- Pay attention to the skin on the belly of the animal, which is always more delicate and fragile than in other areas.
Step 5. Tanned the skin with brain oils
The oils contained in the animal brain constitute a natural method of tanning leather, and each animal has a brain of sufficient size for tanning the entire hide. Boil the brain with a little water (one cup) until it dissolves and becomes a mixture of the consistency of the broth. Blend everything to get a more uniform liquid. At this point, apply the substance following these directions:
- Rinse your skin with water. This removes any traces of fat and residue, and makes the skin more flexible and ready to absorb brain oils.
- Remove excess water, so that the skin is ready for the action of the oils. Squeeze out the excess water by placing the skin between two towels, and repeat a second time with two more dry towels.
- Rub the skin with the substance obtained from the brain. Make sure you scrub every inch.
- Roll up the skin and close it in a plastic sheet, preferably airtight. Place it in the refrigerator and let the mixture work for at least 24 hours.
Step 6. Soften the skin
Now that the oils have soaked your skin, it's a good time to soften it. Take the leather out of the refrigerator and place it back on the frame where you dried it. Remove as much of the brain slurry as possible, then use a large stick or a special tool to soften the leather, rubbing it repeatedly over the entire surface.
- You can get someone to help you with this. The goal is to stretch the leather, which in this case can be removed from the frame, stretching it from the ends, and continuing as much as possible, to then stretch it again on the frame and work it again with the stick.
- You can also use a sturdy rope for the same purpose. With the help of a person, stretch the string and rub it up and down on the skin, pressing with your hands on the string.
Step 7. Smoke the skin
When the leather is soft, folds easily and has dried, it's time to smoke it. Use the holes you stretched it with on the frame and tie it up with heavy duty sewing thread. The aim is to make sure that the smoke stays inside as much as possible. Turn the skin over and place it on a hole about 12 inches in diameter and 15 inches deep. Create a structure with sticks to keep the skin vertical and open. Light a small fire with material that creates a lot of smoke, and let it burn inside the skin to smoke it completely.
- When the fire has created a bed of embers, add smoke-producing material, and hide the possible exits on the sides of the fire, leaving only a small hole from which to add more material to the flames.
- After exposing one side for about half an hour, turn the skin over and smoke the other side in the same way.
Method 2 of 2: Chemical Tanning
Step 1. Skin the skin
Remove all meat and fat to prevent the skin from rotting later. Place it on a stand that will hold it in place as you work. Use a special blade to remove any visible traces of meat or fat, using quick, energetic movements.
- Remove the meat immediately after skinning the animal. If you wait a few hours, the leather will begin to decompose and may break during tanning.
- Be careful not to damage it while cleaning it. Do not use unsuitable knives, to avoid puncturing or scratching the leather.
Step 2. Salt the skin
After removing the meat, place it in the shade and sprinkle a pound or two of salt over it so that it is completely covered.
- During the next two weeks, keep adding salt until the skin reaches a stiff consistency.
- If there are traces of liquid settling in specific areas of the skin, cover them with more salt.
Step 3. Get your tanning supplies
The tanning solution is made up of a mixture of ingredients and chemicals that you will need to procure by finding them on the market. Here is a list of what you need:
- 8 or 10 liters of water
- 5 or 6 liters of cereal flakes water, obtained by boiling 500 grams of whole grain flakes and then leaving to infuse for an hour, then draining and storing the water.
- Two kilos of non-iodized salt
- A quarter of a liter of battery acid
- A pack of baking soda
- Two large buckets or pans, such as garbage cans
- A big stick, to mix and move the skin
Step 4. Tanned the leather
Start by soaking it in clean water, until it is completely soft and pliable, so that it absorbs the tanning products better. When the skin is ready, remove the innermost, driest layer. Then follow this step by step procedure:
- Pour the salt into one of the large containers, and fill it with 7 or 8 liters of boiling water. Add the water obtained by boiling and filtering the cereal flakes and stir until the salt is completely dissolved.
- Add battery acid. Be sure to wear gloves and other protective gear to avoid hurting yourself with acid.
- Dip the skin in the container, keeping it immersed with the stick so that it is completely covered by the liquid, and leave it to act for about 40 minutes.
Step 5. Rinse the skin
Fill the second container with clean water while the leather is still immersed in the tanning liquid. After 40 minutes, use the stick to lift the skin from the first container and soak it in clean water, and then shake it to rinse it. When the water takes on a cloudy color, empty the container and fill it with more water, continuing with rinsing for another 5 minutes.
- If you intend to use leather to make clothes, add a packet of baking soda at this point to rinse and neutralize any acid residue, so that it does not cause damage to the wearer.
- If you don't intend to use leather to make clothes, you can avoid adding baking soda, as neutralizing the effect of the acid decreases the effectiveness of the tanning process and the durability of the leather.
Step 6. Remove excess water and oil the skin
Remove it from the water and hang it on a stick or support that holds it out, and then rub it with specific oil of animal origin.
Step 7. Stretch the skin
Hang it on a frame or other tool to keep it stretched, and place it outdoors but out of the sun, so that it finishes the tanning process.
- After a few days, the skin should be dry and supple. remove it from the support on which it has been hung to dry and pass a metal brush over the entire surface, until it takes on the desired appearance.
- Then let the leather finish drying, which should take a few more days.
Advice
- If you add ash to the water while soaking the skin, hair removal will be much easier, making the solution caustic.
- Pine wood smoke tends to darken the skin.
- Corn cores produce a smoke that is great for processing, which gives the skin a yellow color.
Warnings
- While you smoke the skin, stay close to the fire and check that everything is going smoothly.
- Be very careful in stretching the skin and removing the hair. Always work with movements that move away from the body. The specific tools for these processes shouldn't be sharp, but you are still at risk of injury from the pressure applied.
- Wear gloves and eye protection when using battery acid, which is corrosive and can cause eye and skin damage.
