How to Make Your Own Fish Leather in 2 mins | The Bush Tannery 

Did you do it ??? How did it turn out ???

Sounds really awesome. Please send any photos to thebushtannery@gmail.com, love to see the progress you make. All the best on your project!

How did you remove smell?

You're so welcome. Look forward to hearing how it goes. Feel free to comment back or send me pictures of what you get up to at thebushtannery@gmail.com . All the best! Josh

@@thebushtannery5357 I would have loved to send you some pictures... but my new dog got a hold of them and well... I think you see where I am going with this. xD The skins turned out good nonetheless.

Rabid Little Hipppy Thankyou. More videos are on the way!

Kate Martin Thanks for your continued support!

Oddish thanks for support! hope you found the video helpful.

Awesome! Glad to hear. Don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already. Got another great tutorial video on the way!

You're welcome. I am happy it is helpful. Greetings from Australia. Josh

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-qDSFJxRPau4.html

You're Welcome! It's great to hear how people have been finding this video helpful. FYI I've got the small scrapers from the video now up for sale on the ETSY store: www.etsy.com/au/listing/531144792/single-handed-scraping-tool?ref=shop_home_active_1 **Perfect for doing smaller skins like fish and much easier than using a knife and tearing a hole in your hard earned skins!!

The Bush Tannery i know im late to this thread, but i would like to try this on some small saltwayer jacks to make my own sabiki rigs, and i can say that for any fish with large scales, remove them before skinning to make the procesd that much easier. Now question: can this also be done on fish that have no scales to begin with? I.e. catfish, sharks, rays, etc.

Sam Sadowitz yes. Wolffish is a common skin fish caught in North Atlantic & tanned.

Karl S Hi there! The egg yolk contains similar properties to that of the brain of an animal. Instead of using brains to tan the fish skin, we are instead replicating the same chemistry using eggs, oil and soap. Much more accessible to the general population. The mixture coats the fibers of the fish skin.

a great reference book that has that fish skin in it is : www.amazon.com/Fish-Leather-tanning-traditional-methods/dp/9163716615

Yes you certainly can. You can use natural dyes that would normally be used for dyeing wool and silk (a.k.a. Eco dyes). Just be sure not to put your fish skins in a dye bath that is hotter than 25 C Celsius. Make sure it is cool to touch is a good rule. Then you will not cook your precious skins. Good luck!

TheOneThatGotAwayAngling Yes you can do it later than 10-15 mins. It all depends on the temperature. Ideally you don't want it in the mixture for too long on a warm day as it will spoil and affect your skin. Because fish skin are usually much thinner than other animals it doesn't need as long to absorb solutions. Good luck with your tanning projects.

Hi there. If they are chemically tanned/ dyed I would say maybe. I would need to personally see the skins. Hopefully you found a solution to your stiff skins. It's worth a try. Naturally tanned skins react better to leather balm as they are 'alive'.

I would try something between 120 to 180 grit, trying it myself now and havent gotten to that step, but just a guess, as it's to break off the fibers, higher grit is just going to clog up.

I do this process and that is an essential component.

www.amazon.com/Fish-Leather-tanning-traditional-methods/dp/9163716615

Hi. The egg and soap are to carry the oil into the fish flesh.

Thanks, both of you! (Sorry I didn't see yours sooner, Lazy Fish Tanner!)

Yes you can. The process is slower in the cold. Inside is also fine if you find that more suitable with your climate.

Okay! Thank you! And if I'm able to catch any fish this year, I'll be sure to send a photo over of the finished results! Thanks again!

@@thebushtannery5357 3 years later still using this method on some walleye and stuff, thank you

You're welcome Ana. According to Lotta Rahme (a real expert on Fish tanning and leather making in Sweden) you don't need to smoke the skins. I haven't asked her why as one doesn't question such a master, although perhaps I need to as I'm still curious myself. My theory is that the smoking contains highly acidic properties such as 'tannic acid', and on such a thin and vulnerable skin such as a fish it can compromise the fibre network making it more brittle and prone to disintegrating over time. That's why my favourite fish and marine creature tanning method is bark tanning. Much stronger and longer lasting. Hope that helps. Why not experiment and see for yourself? Cheers. Josh

@@thebushtannery5357 hey! thank you so much for your answer :) that's so interesting, I've bark tanned fish skins before, and am now experimenting with this method. Let's see how they turn out eheh thank you so much for taking some time to answer my question! :)

toxic tabby it certainly can!! Please check out my other video on Furskin tanning. A lot more details than what I can explain in writing. Happy tanning!

toxic tabby it certainly can!! Please check out my other video on Furskin tanning. A lot more details than what I can explain in writing. Happy tanning!

Thanks a bunch. I'll get right on it.

The Bush Tannery would this work on shark hide?

Hello! Did you happen to try tanning the shark?

The scales are harder to remove on those fish just by scraping. You can leave them on, however it may affect the absorption of the egg/ oil solution. They will most likely fall out anyway with time and usage depending on what you intend with the skins. Good luck and thanks for watching!

Thanks for the advice! I plan on sewing the skins into wallets!

Great idea. depending on the thickness of the skin, usually determines what I'll end up using the leather for. Thinner skins are great for non structural leather craft and your more thicker skin can be used for wallets, bags etc. good luck with your project and send us a pic when you do it!

Austin McEwan scales left in will produce a "rougher" finish to the leather. I have sample of cod leather with small scales and the texture is rough.

Jo Ke it works on any skin

yes! google shagreen

I have done shark skin. Its like sandpaper and very tough. It was the original sand paper. www.amazon.com/Fish-Leather-tanning-traditional-methods/dp/9163716615

It sure does. Of course different species and different age, health, etc. will effect the overall quality of the fish leather (or any leather for that manner).

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No rinsing after the marinade/ tanning solution. Otherwise this would strip the oils away before they have time to enter the skin. If the skin is too oily on the 3rd day after some softening, you can rinse in cold soapy water for 5 minutes and soften again. If too dry you need to RE-apply mixture again. It's a bit of experimenting and personal experience. So don't give up if it doesn't work. Hope this helps and thankyou for watching.

The Bush Tannery ah ok, thanks for the info will do that 👍 also are you using cold or warm water fish? 🌸

Jens Björkqvist I'm using cold salt water fish in the video (Salmon, and also Duck Fish native to our coastlines). However, you can use this recipe with all aquatic creatures and even land animals as well. If it has skin, it can be tanned! Obviously no two animals or fish are the same and their skins may react differently. So this is where practice helps. You're welcome.

The Bush Tannery thanks 🙏

TheOneThatGotAwayAngling no it doesn't just have to be vegetable oil.

just pure egg yokes will do fine. No need for the soap either. You can tan and smoke all hides/skins by just using egg yokes or other natural oils.

Hi there. Yes it does. It works on any fish skin (or animal). Of course it depends on the size, age, health etc. Every skin is different. Even for the same species of fish you can have very different experiences. Good luck if you end up trying on the tuna. Josh

yes

@@lazyfishtanner6393 hi, thanks for replying. It was my thesis and now I have a tuna leather bag hahaha!

@@sephreyes1625 very cool

It may possibly go bad, but you could try try putting it in the solution again. You can always hang it under a sheltered place, hell I've dried some leather in my closed garage!

Theoretically you can. Whether or not the skin ends up brittle and breaking is another story. I personally haven't tried this method of making fish leather. Please comment back if you try this and let us know if it worked. Thank you, Josh

@@thebushtannery5357 we tried and failed

@@alexandraandersson1665 Thanks for the update.

Yes it works on Eel skin really well! Hope you had a chance to try it.

the video length is about 2 minutes

I disagree. It actually accelerates the composting process and if handled correctly doesn't smell. Of course if you just dump the meat and scraps on an open pile and leave it then you'll have an ineffective mess. So in that respect you're right ;) Of course if you have pets that will eat it, great. But I will never leave meat scraps out for wildlife as it further interferes with the natural ecology.

You're welcome. The key to making soft fish leather (and any leathers) is the softening process combined with the use of natural oils such as coconut oil. The timing of this is also important. The 'magic window' as I call it when I am teaching people is when the skin is not dry and not wet. So when the skin is drying you want to soften it with your hands before it turns hard and rigid as you described. I hope that explanation helps you and anyone else reading this and wondering why their skins turn out hard. You can follow me on Instagram. I often post helpful hints on there as well as Facebook. Greetings from Australia, Josh