HOW TO SALT HIDES TO PRESERVE THEM
There is a missing gap between smallscale farming and the more-than-food materials that our animals provide. These materials are ones we know well and rely on: the leathers for handbags, belts, shoes, furniture. But both the goods and the leather itself tend to be made across the world - often with North American hides tanned in horrific conditions for workers, then imported back to us.
The first step in creating leather from animal hide is preservation. Just like with food, animal hide preservation halts the degradation process. It buys us time. We can then store our animal hides during the busy season and reclaim them at a later date. The simplest, least-equipment-needed preservation approach is salting.
Read on.
SALT + HIDES
How it Works:
Contrary to some lore, salt is not a hide tanning agent. It does not make the leather; it preserves hides before other ingredients make them into leather. As a preservative, salt draws up moisture from deep within a hide and holds it on the surface. The lack of available water within the hide prevents microbial and enzymatic activity. They call this “reducing the water activity.” What it means for us tanners is, a hide stays put. It won't rot, it won't tan; it waits.
Side note: the use of salt in food is often called curing (think “cured meats”) + this term gets misappropriated to hides. There is no “curing” in hide tanning. You can call a salted hide a “cured” hide if you want, just be aware you are borrowing culinary language and not using true hide tanning jargon. → To add to the confusion, an old English term for a person who handled hides after they were tanned was currier. A currier is one who does currying, not curing. :)
How to Do It:
Step 1
Place a hide on a tarp on flat ground, with the hair side down. If salting several hides, space them apart by 6” to allow for airflow + drainage.
Take 6 cups of plain salt for your average sheep or deer. This can be purchased from a feed store, often under the name “mixing salt.” (The old books say to use 20% of a hide's dry weight).
Spread the salt over the skin side of the hide, wearing gloves to prevent your hands from drying out. Rub the salt into the edges and all the nooks and crannies of the hide. Full coverage is more important than thick coverage.
Step 2
Let the hide stay this way for two to three hours. You’ll start to see small pools of water emerge. Whisk these away with gloved hands. Apply more salt if the hide absorbs it and has any bare spots.
Keep the hide here for another two days, safe from rain.
Step 3
After two days, fold the hide along the spine skin-to-skin. If the hair or wool is dripping wet, put an area fan near it to dry it out (you’ll need to flip the hide over halfway through it to dry both sides). Depending on your climate, this may take a few minutes or several days.
Step 4
Once the hair or wool is slightly moist but not dripping, roll up the hide into a tight ball.
Place the salted hide inside a plastic bag and tie a knot to seal the air in.
Store the hide in this bag in a cool place safe from rodents, such as a high shelf or watertight tote.