HOW TO TAN RABBIT HIDES
(Page 2 of 8)
January/February 1983
By Kathy Kellogg
As an alternative, you can clean skins in your washer (use the delicate cycle, if your machine has one), but there is a possibility that bits of fat and hair will plug up the drain hose. To avoid this problem, I prefer to handwash the pelts (which also gives me a chance to examine the furs closely).
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Thoroughly cleaned hides can be preserved for later processing by freezing; drying on a stretcher, or salting and drying. I store my pelts in the freezer if I have more than I can comfortably work on at one time. Before freezing them, though, I make sure that all the body heat is cooled from the skins, and that the excess water has been pressed out . . . then I wrap the hides in freezer paper — or store them in airtight containers — to prevent dehydration and freezer burn.
(A hide can be opened up — that is, split from head to tail along the belly's midline — at any time during the tanning operation, but I prefer to wait until the process is complete to do this.)
THE FIRST TANNING SOLUTION
When the pelts are clean and cooled (or have been defrosted, if you've been sidetracked for a while), you're ready to begin tanning. You'll first need to round up a four- to six-gallon plastic container (a wastebasket or bucket will work fine). Then pour two gallons of room-temperature (about 70°F) water into the pail, and add either — but not both — of the following recipes. (Each formula will be adequate to tan six to nine medium-sized pelts.)
TANNING RECIPE NO. 1:
SALT/ALUM
1 cup of coarse or granulated salt ( not iodized)
1 cup of common alum (aluminum sulfate or any of several similar double sulfates), powdered or granulated
TANNING RECIPE NO. 2:
SALT/ACID
1 pound of coarse or granulated salt (about 1-3/4 cups)
1 ounce of full-strength sulfuric acid, or 4 ounces (1/2 cup) of battery acid (dilute sulfuric acid)
You can buy a five-pound sack of the necessary salt at almost any grocery store (look for noniodized pickling salt) for about $1.00. And larger quantities (usually 100-pound sacks) are available from chemical companies and other sources at "bargain" bulk prices.
Alum is stocked by biological supply companies, handicraft and leather shops, chemical suppliers, pharmacies, and feed stores. It comes in both a commercial and a medicinal grade (for tanning purposes it makes no difference which you use) and generally costs between $1.00 and $3.00 per pound.
Battery acid (electrolyte) is available from auto supply houses for about $1.00 per gallon (128 ounces) and is usually sold in five-gallon containers. (I've never worked with full-strength sulfuric acid, because I feel it's too dangerous.)
Both recipes work well and take approximately the same amount of time. I prefer the somewhat more expensive alum mixture because it produces a whiter, softer leather with the feel of fine suede.
Once you've determined which method you're going to use, add the chemicals to the water (don't let them splash) . . . and make sure the powders are completely dissolved before you add the pelts. Be certain to show respect for your chemicals and to handle them properly. (Wear rubber gloves if you're working with sulfuric acid.)
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