Resources (Copy)

1.Washing

Use warm water if possible for more thorough cleaning.  If limited access to warm water, cold is fine, but don't alternate warm and cold: wool may felt

1. Fill a bin or tub with water and place the hide in for five minutes; drain water.  Most of the grit in the hide will have drained away.

2. Fill the bin/tub again, this time add liquid soap and vigorously suds the fur of the hide

3. Drain and repeat as needed until the water runs clear.  If fur has seeds and twigs in it, wait until the Combing step to remove them

2. Alum-tawing

Alum-tawing can happen by one of two techniques: soaking a hide in water with an alum-salt mix or by making a paste of alum-salt and spreading it on the hide.

1. Soak technique

This technique can be use on a fresh or salted hide. If a hide is salted, shake the salt off and collect it in a separate container before washing.

Mix 1-2 cups alum with an equal amount of salt. Spread this mixture on the skin side of a hide. Submerge the hide in a 10-gal+ watertight container. Fill with water to fully cover the hide.

Let the hide soak for 3-7 days, depending on temperature. When ready, turn over the bin or drain the soaking tub 30-60 min before moving on to the next step. The hide will have soaked up a lot of water, and water is heavy. Let some water drain before lifting the hide. For sheep skins, you can even hang the hide overnight, wool side out, to let the wool air dry.

1.  Paste technique

This technique works best on a fresh hide, shortly after the animal was harvested.

Mix 1-2 cups alum with an equal amount of salt. Spread this mixture on the skin side of a hide. Be sure to cover all areas of the hide, especially the outer corners. Fold the hide in half, along the spine, skin-to-skin. Let the hide sit with this paste for 3-7 days. Briefly rinse the skin side with water to wash away excess minerals before the next step.

3.Wet-scraping: membraning

Place the hide fur side down/skin side up on the scraping beam. Get your Scraper tool and a waterproof apron.

The alum will have turned the hide's membrane more tacky and tough, which makes it easier to see and to remove. Scrape away from your body, standing firm against the end of the beam to secure the hide. Make sure your Scraper's bevel is facing away from you, at around a 40° angle. 

Follow the 80/20 rule with membraning: in doing 20% of the effort, we achieve 80% of the results. Not all the membrane needs to be removed during wet-scraping - in fact, much of it needs to wait until the hide is more dry to be removed. 

Wet-scraping has the added benefit of squeegeeing more water from the hide. You may see water dripping away under the pressure of your tool. This helps aid the drying process.

4. Framing

For medium sized hides (sheep, goat, deer) and bigger, we use a frame to soften. For small hides (raccoon, fox, rabbit) we can soften by hand. However, if you want your fur textile to lay flat, then you can frame it even if it's a small hide. Follow the instructions for framing a hide from the Rawhide section.

5. Softening

Set aside 1-2 days from the time a hide is framed to when you can expect it to dry. You will likely be leaving the hide framed overnight after Day 1, and back at softening on Day 2. In the first 3 hours, when a hide and its fur are very wet, you don't need to give your all. Once a hide becomes 40% dry (usually midday on Day 2), start working it vigorously with hand tools, such as:

• a dowel

• a 2x2 cut with an end cut at a 45° angle

• a spade shovel

• a mezzaluna, ulu, or head knife (rounded knife blades) 

Directions:

• Press your blunt tool (dowel, etc.) into the hide at whatever angle is comfortable for you

• Press your rounded knife at a 90° angle to the hide

• Begin scraping and moving in all directions. Your tool will stretch the hide open and keep the skin fibres gliding.

In the final hour or two - when a hide is 80% dry - take the hide out of the frame and finish by hand-softening and cabling. This will get you a very soft fur textile. However, to keep the textile laying flat, re-frame the hide after cabling and continue frame-softening until the hide 100% dry.

6. Oiling (a.k.a Fat-liquoring)

Partway through softening in Mineral Tanning, we oil the hides. This step lubricates the skin fibres and helps them glide across each other and stay flexible, rather than glue together and flatten, which would create a stiff rawhide. We wait until the hide is about 50% dry - dry to the touch on the surface, but still holding onto moisture within the skin.

Mix 5 oz/150mls of liquid soap and a liquid natural fat (olive oil, melted deer tallow, egg yolk, etc.) in a 1:1 ratio in a container. Shake or stir. The soap and fat will emulsify together and create a cream. Rub this on the hide directly with your fingertips.

Apply this mix layer by layer in thin coats of oil. Rub as much of the soap-oil mix as will easily absorb into the hide, don't overdo it or you will get a greasy hide that you don't want to touch again!

After applying a full coat of the soap-oil mix to hide, let it sink in and continue softening. You can apply more coats of oil as needed. You may also find that you need to apply a thin coat of oil to the sides (belly) of the hide before the rest of the hide is ready for it. This is normal - the belly is the thinnest part of an animal's skin, so it dries the fastest. Go with what the hide feels it needs.

Over time, a Mineral Tanned textile that has been oiled will start to turn golden. This is a sign of the oil oxidizing and converting to aldehydes - the same microscopic transformation that happens with smoke tanning! Using different constituents, the same effect is achieved. A true "tanning" has occurred because the molecules have transfigured. The hide is now more strong than it was before, not merely preserved but tanned.

7. Dry-scraping and Pumicing

Once a hide is about 80%, you seamlessly move into dry-scraper.  Now is a good time to sharpen your tools so they slough off more membrane.

You can cable a hide at this point as well for an extra-suple textile.  De-frame your hide, cable it once over every part of the hide (about 15 minutes) then re-frame your hide back into its frame to remain flat. From this point on, more dry-scraping can begin.  The cable will rough up a lot of membrane that your pumice stone or dry-scraper can slough away.

If thin parts of a hide (i.e. the belly) have taken on a "papery" texture and sound, gentle pumicing is your best friend! Pumice in circles on these areas until they give and soften up. You can also add more soap-oil mix to them once they soften - the oil will keep them soft.

8. Combing

Combing is the final step to make fur textiles plush, shiny, and stunning. Any remaining debris like seeds or twigs can be removed during combing. This step can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours, depending on the animal. There are two main types of combing:

Use a metal comb with strong tines, or if in a pinch, simply use your own combs.

1. Straight Combing

This is just like combing one's own hair. With the hide still in the frame, hold the comb horizontally and brush downwards. 

1. Line Combing

This is a pet groomer's style of combing. It is best for wool and any animals with a lot of debris trapped in the fur. Start in one corner of the hide. Hold the comb horizontally and insert the comb tines at the base of the fur strands, then gently pull outwards. This will fluff the fur a *lot!* Continue in a systematic order. This style of combing takes longer than Straight Combing but is useful to create a more fluffy wool coat and to remove all seeds and grit.