HOW TO SOFTEN BUCKSKIN

WHAT IS BUCKSKIN?

Buckskin is the soft cloth textile we make from any mammal hide after removing the outer layer of skin (the grain). With the grain gone, we are left with the more pliable, less brittle, more stretchy, less structural: dermis. But our work does not stop.

After scraping the hide to isolate the dermis, we have a sopping wet hide that feels so supple + flexible. It will not stay this way. As the hide dries, its inner network of collagen begins to stiffen.  Once a hide totally dries, it's as stiff as a board. or more literally, it's as stiff as a resonant rawhide drum (because that's exactly what drums are: dried hides).

The in-between stage is where hide tanners come in. Get to a hide while it's wet, continue working til it's dry. The “working” is the softening.

And in smoke-tanning, the softening is truly work.  The hide fights back, trying to stiffen; the tanner stretches + scrapes + pulverizes + cables + hand-tools + stretches some more.

So:

HOW TO SOFTEN BUCKSKIN

PS before I get into it, I am doing something I've never done before at the tannery + I want to make sure I share this in good time!

Next Monday November 24, all 2026 public hide camps will open for registration.  And there is a big discount to join them now.

The dates are live now, so {take a look at the calendar lineup here} + find a hide camp for you!

TIP #1: CONSERVE ENERGY

• Hides are easy to soften when wet, harder to soften when dry

• This means the most work happens at the end of the softening session

• Track your drying time - which is affected by weather, climate, elevation, and often overlooked, your consistency - and get to know who many hours a typical hide dries for you

• Then, plan. If it dries in 4 hours, don't waste all your energy in the first two; make the final two your biggest input of energy.

• And take advantage of passive drying moves in the initial 1-2 hours: 

  • stretch a hide over a fire

  • hang a hide in a doorway. 

  • it's okay for the hide to stiffen a little first if you know you've got the energy to soften it later.

TIP #2: USE A FRAME

• I learned a lot of “how to do it the wrong way” when I first tanned buckskin. The biggest flaw: only softening by hand

• Any hides 3-ft-long or bigger ask for a frame

• This is not just about our personal strength. it's about the quality of the finished product.

  • Only a frame will get you an evenly- stretched hide + a flat buckskin for crafting.

  • Hand-softening creates pockets of stretch, leading to an uneven buckskin (and one that will change its shape after you wash it).

  • Hand-softening also retains the round shape of the animal, leading to a hard-to-craft-with buckskin.

• I use a frame first to dry-scrape + lightly stretch the hide.Then I choose:

  • (1) re-soak and frame again to soften a thick hide or 

  • (2) re-soak and hand-soften if it's a thin hide.

TIP #3: USE HAND TOOLS 
ESPECIALLY IN THE FINAL 25% OF DRY-TIME

• Softening is first a game of stretching a hide in all directions

• This literally stretches the ropes of collagen, making them “noodley” instead of stiff

• But it's not enough to target small areas of the hide. for this you need hand tools

  • They come into play after the hide is 50%+ dry

• Sit with the hide in your lap, securing one end of it by putting it under your kneed and tightening your knee hard, so the hide can't slip away from you. Or, put a corner of the hide under the chair you're sitting on, same effect to secure the hide.

• Then take a hand tool and scrape, push, and stretch the hide in targeted place like the haunches and neck. Ease up on your pressure with the belly.

• → Hand tools will 100% enable you to get a more supple buckskin.

  • You track your hide better, softening the areas that need it, and zero in on stubborn spots with repetition.