How to Tan Skins & Make Leather
A beautiful piece of leather clothing is both aesthetically pleasing and functional. Rather than paying top dollar for an item in a department store, consider tanning skins and leather on your own. This will not be the easiest project and may take a couple of attempts to complete correctly, but your finished product will be a fantastic item of clothing that you can wear proudly. Not only did you score an exciting talking piece, but you made it yourself!
Things You'll Need
- Animal hide
- Non-metallic tub
- Bowl
- Water
- Rubber hammer
- Wooden beam
- Dull knife
- Quicklime or wood ash
- Tallow or egg yolks
- Salt (optional)
- Borax or baking soda
- Dish soap
- Crushed oak bark
Instructions
-
-
1
Prepare your animal hide by properly removing the skin. You should skin the dead animal so that all the meat and fat is free from the skin.
-
2
Soak the skin in a bowl of water and pound it repeatedly with a rubber hammer to ensure all the meat and fat is removed. After the skin has soaked, lay it to dry on a wooden beam. Scrape the skin with a dull knife to reduce the chance of creating a tear.
-
-
3
Flip the hide over so the fur is facing you. Rub the fur with quicklime or wood ash and allow it to soak.
-
4
Scrape the fur off of the skin with your dull knife, again ensuring you do not tear the skin.
-
5
Rub the skin with tallow or egg yolks to keep it from rotting and stiffening while you complete the tanning process. If you would like to create a pale leather, consider rubbing the skin with salt at this stage.
-
6
Bate the skin by rubbing it with Borax or baking soda. Traditionally, people would use manure from a carnivore, but Borax and baking soda will give the skin the necessary elasticity without the unpleasant smell of the manure.
-
7
Wash the Borax or baking soda off of the skin with water and dish soap.
-
8
Soak your hide in water and crushed oak bark to make tannin. You may also use a commercially created tannin if that would be easier.
-
9
Allow the hide to dry for a few days in a clay-lined pit. Hang your wooden beam across the pit to keep your hide from becoming marred by the clay.
-
10
Remove the hide from the pit after a few days and place it flat to dry.
-
11
Create any clothing item you wish with the leather.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
You can tan the skin of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, deer, elk and antelope.
Consider dyeing your leather when it is dry and before you make it into a clothing item.
References
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
