Q&A for How to Tan a Hide

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  • Question
    What is the best way to dispose of the tanning solution that has battery acid in it?
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    In a well-ventilated room, pour a box of baking soda into the tanning solution to neutralize the acid. Step away from the solution to avoid inhaling any fumes, and wait until the mixture stops bubbling. You can take this mixture to your local household hazardous waste facility or throw it over weeds to kill them, but never pour it down the drain.
  • Question
    Can you still use battery acid if you want to leave the hair on?
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    Yes, but it might leave you with a stiff texture. If you want soft fur, use brain oils or an alum-salt solution to tan your hide instead.
  • Question
    Can you use a different animal brain to brain tan?
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
    wikiHow Staff Editor
    Staff Answer
    Yes. You can use a pig brain, which you can find at your local butcher or meat market.
  • Question
    How do I tan a hide like a Native American and without using any modern technologies?
    Community Answer
    Natives still had Access to salt, smoke and water, and also used the animal's urine to help cure the hide. There is a curing process that was accomplished with these techniques, but with more primitive methods, like using stone or glass to cut away the flesh instead of modern steel or aluminum.
  • Question
    These methods both involve losing the hair. What if you want to retain it to use as a fur?
    Community Answer
    Skip the hair removal step, then rub the brain solution onto the bare side, working it in thoroughly. Fold the hide in such a way that the brain solution doesn't get onto the fur side. Then follow the rest of the steps.
  • Question
    Why do I have to take the hair off?
    Community Answer
    Taking the hair off is mostly for aesthetic purposes. Many people find hairless leather easier to take care of than fur. If you really want to, you can leave the hair on. Be sure to only apply the solutions to the leather side, and not the hair side.
  • Question
    How do you tan a hide if you want to keep the hair on the hide?
    Community Answer
    Try using Borax laundry detergent. Flesh the hide, cover it in Borax and let it sit for 3-4 days.
  • Question
    What can I do to hold a hide for several months before tanning?
    Community Answer
    Perhaps try salting the hides well, drying them and storing them in a dry place. The hides must be soaked in water to release the salt before tanning.
  • Question
    Can you tan a hide after it has been frozen?
    Community Answer
    Yes. It may take a little more work to get it to soften, but you can keep pelts for six months or more in the freezer. If you kept the face on a pelt, the freezer would do damage to the nose, lips and eyelid areas, and they wouldn't look as good.
  • Question
    What kind of salt can I use to tan a hide?
    Community Answer
    Rock salt is more water absorbent. Sea salt tends to corrode the leather.
  • Question
    How can I keep the brain fresh while drying the hide?
    Community Answer
    Put it in a Ziploc or rubber storage container in the fridge. If it's going to take you a while you can put it in the freezer and take it out to thaw in the fridge the day before you're ready to use it.
  • Question
    How do I tan a hide and have it become soft?
    Community Answer
    After you tanned it, while it's still moist, pull and stretch and work it over an edge until it's completely dry.
  • Question
    What can I use to flesh a hide if I don't have a fleshing tool and beam?
    Community Answer
    Use a blunt knife or other blade. You can also use a sharp knife, but be gentle.
  • Question
    How do I completely tan a hide?
    Community Answer
    Follow the instructions listed in the article above.
  • Question
    How do I get a hide soft and pliable after it has become very brittle?
    Community Answer
    If it's brittle instead of rigid, it's probably not a fresh hide, or it was overthinned while fleshing and will probably fall apart when tanning. Otherwise, if it's already processed -- as in leather -- apply common skin moisturizer once a year.
  • Question
    Can I skip the salting part and just tan the hide after being fleshed?
    Community Answer
    No. Salting the hide draws out all the moisture, kills bacteria and helps to set the hair if leaving hair on. Salting your hide is one of the most important steps to tanning a deer hide and should never be omitted.
  • Question
    Is it possible to tan the skin of a catfish?
    Community Answer
    No, it's not really possible to tan the skin of a catfish.
  • Question
    Does using the acid method remove the hair?
    Community Answer
    No, it doesn't.
  • Question
    How do I tan a hide when it's dried with salt?
    Community Answer
    Soak it and wash the salt out of the tissue, rinsing it completely. Then brain it with the cooked brains, wash it and wring it out before stretching and working it. I have found wringing to be a very important part of tanning hides. It speeds up the drying process when you work it with an ax handle or over a post.
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