Tanning my First Sheepskin | Permaculture Life 

Wow - what have you done with the emu skin?? It is a lot of work but rewarding when it’s done. Not looking forward to the cow hide but determined not to let it go to waste!! Xx

@@huttonsvalleypermaculture it was when I was living in WA, so it never made it back here with me. I was going to sew it into a carry bag as it was a lovely fine leather. It was from a roadkill, so not sure I’d find another one these days as not a lot of farms have them now the 90’s emu craze is over😬 xx Cathi xx 😘

Wow Cathi... that sounds awesome 👌

Thanks for that Lisa! I thought it was a list cause - will try again & look out for lecithin!!

@@huttonsvalleypermaculture No worries. Another process that would assist in suppleness and future pest proofing the leather is cold smoking it. I use the tannins I leach from local barks to tan my hides, so I need all the help I can get, to get it as workable as possible. Sorry I should have introduced myself again. I'm Nathan. Freinds of your neighbours. The one who does mead too 😆.

Sorry Nathan - didn’t remember!! I’ll certainly have to do some more investigating methods before I process the other two skins & the cow hide!! Did you get the cow hide supple??

@Huttons Valley Permaculture Not the last one unfortunately (big rug). I made the mistake of not obtaining enough bark (tannins) to completely tan the skin all the way through. Hair started slipping and It came out stiff, but for the thin parts that did, once I stretched it a bit, it relaxed well and kept good. The other smaller cattle projects like bike handles came out really well, and that was before I knew about Lecithin. Probably would have been better if it was alum tanning too. One thing I've learning working with cattle is it that it requires lots of practice, trial and error to get the product you aiming for. But every step is a learning experience.

I might try another sheepskin before I tackle my cow hide - don’t want to ruin it so a little more practice first can’t hurt!

Wow sounds like you’ve done everything Naomi! The stretching of the skin was easy to start with but got tougher as it dried then I totally forgot about it lol. I’ve been using the skin in my ensuite and it feels luxurious under my feet 😊

@@huttonsvalleypermaculture you know that saying" Jen of all trades, master of none ". I love to give everything a good try ,even if I'm not much good at it . 😉

@@huttonsvalleypermaculture p.s. I hope I never sound like I'm bragging 😬❤

Thanks Judy pleased you’ve enjoyed it

Haha - yeah as soon as I saw you can use eggs to do it I was willing to give it a try

I presume it is something to do with the protein. Will check out the link to satisfy my curiosity and potentially put me in another rabbit hole 😂 Hope the weather is reasonable for you. I'm over the chilly morning but we've barely had any rain. I hope August fixes that.

Yeah I think it’s all about the protein! We’ve had some rain here but not the usual and it’s been really mild and spring like which is a worry really. Don’t know if winter is still coming or an early summer - who knows. Good luck with your rain 🌧

I’ll definitely be trying the jet wash next time. When I bought my fleshing knife from a taxidermy place the guy there had said that’s what they do. Would have been a lot quicker if I’d followed that advice! Thanks for your comments and for watching!

Thanks for watching ☺️

Thanks Lynda! I love watching RU-vid videos myself & can’t help but give it all ago. So pleased you enjoy them ☺️

Hi Sue I love that you find it interesting because I do too 😄

Oooh raw mohair 😍. I knitted my hat but I think too much alpaca - lost it’s shape very quickly haha

Hi there and thank you! The recipe I used I got from another persons youtube video ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--p2FgxUOIRI.html , so check that out if you are planning to do this. I have had someone comment that this isn't a true tanning process (read through my comments to see exactly what was said) - so maybe a bit of homework on the subject so you make the right decision for yourself. My sheepskin is still lovely - I'm using it as a floor mat! Thanks for watching!!

A bit more stretching next time, but practice makes perfect, so they say 😄

@@huttonsvalleypermaculture 🤗🤗🤗

Thanks for that advice. I still have a couple more to do and may try that method instead. Do you think it would work with a cow hide?

@@huttonsvalleypermaculture yes i would so .. ive heard some large presure washers can cut threw the skin i use a kärcher k4 it works perfect for me

Mine isn’t a big one - I’ll give it a go! Thank you!!

Thank you 😊

Thank you very much 😊

It's called a fleshing knife and I just searched online and found one at a local taxidermist. When I rang he told me it was easier to use a high pressure hose for fleshing as long as it didn't oscillate - don't have one of those so bought the knife!

Hi there I just bought it at Bunnings - in the pool section - it’s called Hyclor Flocculent

👍