![]() Stir a couple times a day to swish hides around. Cover the container to keep pets or children out.Īllow the hides to soak, at room temperature, at least two days but less than a week. ![]() Weigh the hides down if necessary to ensure they are fully submerged. Stir around with a stick or gloved hand, ensuring all rabbit skin comes in contact with the brine. If the hide is still in a tube, be sure the hair is to the inside and the skin faces out. Thaw frozen rabbit hides or completely cool freshly butchered skins. Rabbit Hides in the First Soak The First Soak This will tan five large or ten small pelts. Within a deep, non-reactive container such as a plastic tub with a fitting lid, mix two gallons of lukewarm water, one cup non-iodized salt, and one cup alum. Either medicinal or commercial-grade alum is fine. Find alum in bulk in hardware stores, chemical supply companies, or online retailers. Purchase salt at any grocery store but be sure it is not iodized. To avoid added hard minerals in your brine, buy jugs of purified water. ![]() Mixing the Solutionįor this recipe, you only need four ingredients for tanning: rabbit hides, water, salt, and alum. Squeeze out air to avoid freezer burn and store for up to a year until you are ready to start. If you don’t intend to start the tanning process that day, stuff raw pelts into a freezer bag. Gently squeeze water out but never twist or wring the pelt. Soap is unnecessary but if you do use it, rinse away every little bit. Don’t worry about scraping away bits of fat and flesh it’s easier to do that later, and too much mishandling can poke holes in the pelts. Gently wash away blood that will stain the skin. Feel free to leave it submerged as you finish all your processing, adding new hides to the same pot and replacing water if it gets too warm. Immediately dunk the hide in cold water to wash away blood and cool the flesh. Most processing methods suggest that you cut along the back legs then shuck the skin off, leaving an intact tube. If you butcher, avoid cutting the hide anywhere unnecessary as you remove it from the animal. Perhaps offer to tan a few for them in trade. ![]() If you know someone who raises rabbits for meat, ask if they use the pelts. Some rabbit breeds have short, velvet-like hair while others have long, silky strands well suited for spinning into yarn. The best butchering time is in the winter, when the coat is thickest. When rabbits are raised for pelts as well as meat, they are often allowed to grow larger. And if it lives in a sheltered rabbit hutch with a balanced diet, it produces a thick and shiny pelt. A quick search of rabbit facts proves the all-white meat is leaner with more protein than chicken breast. Rabbit meat is inexpensive, relatively easy, clean, and humane compared to other meat animals. Wear your new, toasty warm rabbit fur hat while completing chores in the bitter cold. If you raised the rabbits yourself, the best reason for tanning rabbit hides is to create a product which you had a hand in, from breeding to processing and finally to make an article of clothing. Other homesteaders may want to develop crafting talents. Seamstresses desire them to line coats, hoods, and gloves. Historical reenactment groups covet a well-tanned hide for clothing or props. Tanning rabbit hides for mass market isn’t realistic, but they can be sold to hobbyists. Discarding the hide ignores further opportunities to keep material out of landfills or avoid fake furs made with petroleum products. The rabbit has already fulfilled its purpose as nourishment. So why should you go through all the work?įirst of all, it’s a useful byproduct of an individual’s efforts toward sustainability. Most hides don’t end up as coats because buyers aren’t available.
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