#All about tanning rabbit hides skin#

Formic is a very stable chemical used by many but is dangerous, with harmful fumes and will burn skin on contact. These include Formic, Citric, and 'Safetee' acid. There are many acids used to create pickle solutions. This will not only keep your pickle clean, but you will have less problems controlling the pH of the mixture. So, once your skins have been salted and relaxed, they are ready to go into a pickle bath! Make sure you have removed any blood stains before you put the skins into the pickle. It will wash the protein away, leaving open sites for the tanning chemicals to attach to. Globular protein is the unwanted protein in the skin, and that is what the pickling solution will remove. Skin is made up of two types of protein - globular and fibrous. The acidity of a pickle does, however.Ī pickle also helps remove the non-tannable proteins in the skin.

Salt alone simply creates a poor environment for bacteria to live but it doesn't always kill it. Pickling plumps the skin, which makes shaving easier, and helps to sets the hair. The salt content in the water keeps your hide safe 'for now', but the sooner it can relax and get to the pickling bath, the better.Ī pickle is a low pH acidic solution that is used to stabilize skins in the tanning process and stop deterioration. Thinner skinned animals taking less time and thicker ones could take 24 hours or more. Watch your hides to see how well they are relaxing. Add 4 tablespoons of it to each gallon of water needed to submerge the skins (8 tablespoons per gallon of water for greasy skins). The Rittel's Ultra-Soft is definitely recommended for these kinds of skins. Salt-dried skins usually relax easy (all my deer capes I simply relax in a salt and water solution) but other types such as air-dried and African flint dried skins may not relax easy. One good product for this is Rittel's Ultra-soft relaxing agent. When you are ready to pickle your skins, you'll need to relax them in a brine solution, as they will be stiff from salting. If you desire a very hard-dried hide, or the humidity is high, a fan placed in front of the hide will turn it rock-hard in no time. Re-apply another layer of clean salt and hang the hide up to dry. When drained, open the hide up and shake out the excess salt. Then, fold it flesh-to-flesh, roll it up and place it on an inclined surface for several hours. Rub the salt into the flesh, making sure that it reaches into tight areas such as the ears. Thin down any areas that feel thick with meat.Īpply a heavy layer of salt to the flesh side.

And bacteria is the main cause of hair slippage. As long as the skin is in it's raw state, unsalted, it is collecting bacteria. Do not waste time trying to remove small pieces of flesh you can do that during the pickling stage, when the hide is easier to shave. Salting is the very first thing you should do after the animal has been skinned. Some swear by placing a hide straight into the pickle, but wait til you see the amount of liquid the salt will draw out! Salting is very important because it makes the skin dry fast, leaches out unwanted liquids, and sets the hair tight.

This comes right after you finish skinning the animal. You're also going to need water, a large bucket, measuring spoons and cups, and a fleshing/shaving tool. (If you are using Kwik-N-Eze then you don't need this) So, I've been wanting to post something on tanner on here for a while since a lot of you folks tan your own hides and for the newbies that want too! I got these instructions off a taxidermy site and modified it for rabbit hides! I've used this method and it's really worked!Ģ.