Thank you so much for putting this video together. I am new to hide tanning and after looking at so many videos describing egg tanning I would like to say yours is by far the best! I believe there is an art to everything we do and I feel you have mastered this particular one. All the best from Ireland!!
Oh my, thank you so much for the love and support friend! I try to keep my videos organized and informative because I found the others to be so confusing. I’m so glad you are learning to egg tan and enjoyed my video 🥰🥰
Thank you so much for sharing! I've got a sheep skin salted and had no idea where to go from there. Was planning to use alum, but you made the egg wash look so easy. Can't wait to get back at it and finally finish mu sheep skin!
@@Resolute900 My alum hide turned out to be easier to stretch and thus it turned out really nice, the egg one was a but stiff, I think a frame would have been really nice to have.
Thank you this helps so much!! We'll have our buck butchered next week and I really want to tan his beautiful skin. Been looking a LOT for simple instructions. Now I believe I can manage. Thank you!!
Ooh goodluck! I did not dull it!If you use it at the right angle you don't have to, but just be careful the first time around. It gets dull pretty fast!
Thank you for the vid! Ive got a goat hide in the freezer waiting to be processed 🐐 i was wondering if you could suggest a good humidity range to work on the hide? And if the egg yolks started to smell after 3 days? I live in a tropical country so I'd like to know if i could use this method too
Well you want your hide to be as dry as possible in the end, so ideally no humidity but it should be fine doing it outside and storing it in a garage or something while its drying. My eggs did not smell!
I have a question: I did a method where a sheepskin is soaked in a brine of salt and alum for a week. This time around, one of the sheepskin's smells funky after the week of brining. There's no meat attached or anything. I think I just didn't clean the wool well enough. So my question is can I just scrub it with detergent to get it clean and then do the egg yolk step? Or will that undo the brining? If I scrub it, do I need to re-brine it? I'm not sure about this scenario and want to avoid wrecking the sheepskin (it's beautiful black wool). But it's also too smelly to use for anything. If you have advice on how to get rid of the smell, I'm all ears. Thanks!
Yeah the smell can be tricky to get rid of, I always recommend cleaning and soaping it before the alum brine but you can do it after just on the hair top part! Also after you do the neatsfoot oil or egg tan and finish it, you can spray a little essential oil blend on the top of the wool to make it smell better, the more time it’s let to air dry and even smoking it to make it waterproof can help with smell. I had one Icelandic hide the farmer gave me it was so disgusting and long haired I caved and threw it out because I just couldn’t stand the smell. That’s why I do hair sheep now😂
@@therosyranch I appreciate the tip and the sharing of your experience. It's valuable to know that the smell can be kind of all over the place from animal to animal. The lesson I'm learning right now is to put a lot of effort into cleaning it BEFORE the brining. The tutorials on RUclips are time-lapse, of course, so it's hard to get a good idea of the true effort and scrubbing involved. Thanks again - very much appreciated!
Hello. Very informative video thank you! Can you share a bit more about the washing process of sheep hide at the beginning? I have two and I’ve tried to get them clean and have not been unsuccessful. I used Dawn soap. Does the water need to be warm? Do you let it soak? If so how long? Are you scrubbing them? I would love an exact step by step in this as I can’t find it
Yes, so I have since started washing them outside because the wool clogged our shower and I got in trouble for that bill! lol so I take a plastic trash can and wash with eco friendly detergent or dawn works great too and blast it with high pressure water and maybe soak 5 minutes room temp water like 60-70 degrees and blast again, repeat this process until I am happy before any alum or egg tanning. Then at the end, brushing and high pressure pet blowers do a great job at removing any dirt or grass seeds.
Great, thank you. How many times do you typically need to do this? And I’m guessing the warm water is my issue as I’ve been outside in the barn using well water. I’ll try this and hopefully get somewhere.
I was searching for the easiest way of tanning at home.. I think this the right one. Sorry, i could not understand after first salting how many weeks you kept it for rest? And instead of olive oil can i use soya bean oil or mustered oil?
You keep the salt on it just until it dried and hardens! This preserves the hide. And I am not sure about those oils, I would do research on them and see if they do the same thing to hides! Or test them out on a small hide like a rabbit!
It depends on the weather and size of the hide, mine took 4 days in the winter you just want the hide to be completely dry and preserved and then you can wash it off or dry scrape it!
Yes you can scrape it off dry or wash it off it’s up to you! You just want to leave the salt on until it’s completely dry to preserve the hide! I think mine took 4 days the second time because it was so cold!
After the final scrape, before applying egg solution, is the hide/fur wet or dry? I’ve seen others wash their hide (sheep or rabbit) and while still wet put the egg solution on and cover with the damp towel and set 48 hours. But both times I’ve attempted it that way, my fur slipped and my hide went bad. I’m wondering if it is the wet fur when setting the egg solution? I’m so tired of losing hides and don’t know where I’m messing it up in the process.
Yeah I did have it wet, what kind of hide is it? Rabbits are more prone to slippage and it sounds like you aren't salting it properly if it "went bad". The salt kills the bacteria that causes slippage and you really want it to dry after the egg tan, dont let it be wet for a while or it will rot after. If you are tired of messing up I would honestly try alum tawing, I have another video for that method and its much more user friendly and it soaks in the salt in alum so it doesn't go bad very fast, you just stretch it after the soak for a few days with neatsfoot oil.
Yes you will! It’s essentially flattens it out and makes it easier to stretch but if you’re wanting it to be a nice piece not rawhide you need to stretch it either way!
Hi thanks for your response. Do you recommend these brand of salt over others? I know you said not to use table salt, is there any specific reason as to why not?
When you wash it before stretching, how do you wash it? I have seen people reccomend specific soaps and tempuratures of water, just curious what you used/use.
I just pop it in the bathtub if its cold or by plastic tub if its warm outside, and add our eco friendly detergent and scrub the wool and mix it around! The water is warm and I've never had an issue with regular detergent on it!
@@sofiatrindade1949 Yeah it does take some time, I use a professional pet blower to remove grass seeds and a pet brush to brush out any loose hair and dirt!
What do you do with these kind of sheepskins once you are done tanning? I'd like to tan a sheep skin and make some mitts; probably a hat after that. I have no need really for them but it's something I'd love to do.
I do really like to use them on wooden chairs as covers and as small rugs, it’s very rustic decor. the ones that don’t turn out nice I use for my cats beds. My next project I hope to make some chaps out of the white ones! I think they would make great gloves and a hat!
They’re really helpful for beds and chairs where people have any limited mobility or are prone to pressure issues. They could probably be made into some very comfortable slippers.
does this work on rabbit skin too? i can get fresh rabbits skins for free, but sourcing chemicals to tan skins is out of my reach where i live. also, what kind of salt is that?
@@therosyranch thank you very very much :D . friend raises rabbits, but throws away the fur. it would be waste of perfectly good hide, wouldnt be ;) ? thanks again.
When I first read how to preserve hides, most people said no iodized salt or rock salt. Just in case it hurts the hide or affects the tanning agent. Table salt it usually iodized. But some people do use it, I just would rather not mess up my hides if possible :)
Awesome thank you - have been collecting rabbit hides and have just got our first 2 sheep ones :) exciting new journey. Your video was fantastic and clear. Thank you!
It does keep it from going bad and helps keep the hair in place when it’s dry. But if it’s left in a solution of water even with salt if has the potential to mold after a couple days if in warm temperature. Colder temps you don’t have to worry about your hide going bad as much.
Thank you so much for putting this video together. I am new to hide tanning and after looking at so many videos describing egg tanning I would like to say yours is by far the best! I believe there is an art to everything we do and I feel you have mastered this particular one. All the best from Ireland!!
Oh my, thank you so much for the love and support friend! I try to keep my videos organized and informative because I found the others to be so confusing. I’m so glad you are learning to egg tan and enjoyed my video 🥰🥰
Thank you so much for sharing! I've got a sheep skin salted and had no idea where to go from there. Was planning to use alum, but you made the egg wash look so easy. Can't wait to get back at it and finally finish mu sheep skin!
Yeah I usually do alum and really enjoy it too. My alum video is available through the tasteofthewind307 patreon, you can find her on Instagram!
I'll take a look at that video as well, but alum has been hard to find unless I order online. I'll use alum on the next one. Thanks again!
Hi there.
Can you give us some feedback on how yours turned out.
@@Resolute900 My alum hide turned out to be easier to stretch and thus it turned out really nice, the egg one was a but stiff, I think a frame would have been really nice to have.
Great job! You’re a good instructor. Thank you Off I go to work on my hides!
Thank you I try!
Great video! Very interesting way of tanning!
Thank you!
Thank you its verey good❤❤❤
Thank you this helps so much!! We'll have our buck butchered next week and I really want to tan his beautiful skin. Been looking a LOT for simple instructions. Now I believe I can manage. Thank you!!
Aww you’re welcome! I hope your skin goes well, if I can do it you can too!
This is a great step by step video! I feel like I can do it now seeing someone else do this- thanks so much!!
You’re very welcome, Jessica! You can totally do it, I believe in you!
Wow! Thank you this! I've been trying to figure out what method I want to use to tan, and I'm def going with this one!!
Muchas gracias, buen video y una perfecta explicación.
Great video! I'm just getting into tanning. Did you have to dull the ulu knife first?
Ooh goodluck! I did not dull it!If you use it at the right angle you don't have to, but just be careful the first time around. It gets dull pretty fast!
@@therosyranch Thank you!
Thank you for the vid! Ive got a goat hide in the freezer waiting to be processed 🐐 i was wondering if you could suggest a good humidity range to work on the hide? And if the egg yolks started to smell after 3 days? I live in a tropical country so I'd like to know if i could use this method too
Well you want your hide to be as dry as possible in the end, so ideally no humidity but it should be fine doing it outside and storing it in a garage or something while its drying. My eggs did not smell!
A very beautiful narration! It was very useful. Thank you.
You're welcome! I am glad you enjoyed.
I have a question: I did a method where a sheepskin is soaked in a brine of salt and alum for a week. This time around, one of the sheepskin's smells funky after the week of brining. There's no meat attached or anything. I think I just didn't clean the wool well enough. So my question is can I just scrub it with detergent to get it clean and then do the egg yolk step? Or will that undo the brining? If I scrub it, do I need to re-brine it? I'm not sure about this scenario and want to avoid wrecking the sheepskin (it's beautiful black wool). But it's also too smelly to use for anything. If you have advice on how to get rid of the smell, I'm all ears. Thanks!
Yeah the smell can be tricky to get rid of, I always recommend cleaning and soaping it before the alum brine but you can do it after just on the hair top part! Also after you do the neatsfoot oil or egg tan and finish it, you can spray a little essential oil blend on the top of the wool to make it smell better, the more time it’s let to air dry and even smoking it to make it waterproof can help with smell. I had one Icelandic hide the farmer gave me it was so disgusting and long haired I caved and threw it out because I just couldn’t stand the smell. That’s why I do hair sheep now😂
@@therosyranch I appreciate the tip and the sharing of your experience. It's valuable to know that the smell can be kind of all over the place from animal to animal. The lesson I'm learning right now is to put a lot of effort into cleaning it BEFORE the brining. The tutorials on RUclips are time-lapse, of course, so it's hard to get a good idea of the true effort and scrubbing involved. Thanks again - very much appreciated!
Great video, thanks for sharing! 🙏🏽
You’re welcome!
What is your proportions for the tanning solution? Is it about fifty egg and water with a splash of oil
I would say there is more egg, but whatever you think would be best for your area, I was in Colorado so it was very dry, I added a lot of water.
Hello. Very informative video thank you! Can you share a bit more about the washing process of sheep hide at the beginning? I have two and I’ve tried to get them clean and have not been unsuccessful. I used Dawn soap. Does the water need to be warm? Do you let it soak? If so how long? Are you scrubbing them? I would love an exact step by step in this as I can’t find it
Yes, so I have since started washing them outside because the wool clogged our shower and I got in trouble for that bill! lol so I take a plastic trash can and wash with eco friendly detergent or dawn works great too and blast it with high pressure water and maybe soak 5 minutes room temp water like 60-70 degrees and blast again, repeat this process until I am happy before any alum or egg tanning. Then at the end, brushing and high pressure pet blowers do a great job at removing any dirt or grass seeds.
Great, thank you. How many times do you typically need to do this? And I’m guessing the warm water is my issue as I’ve been outside in the barn using well water. I’ll try this and hopefully get somewhere.
@@leahmitchell1372 about twice before fleshing and twice after fleshing!
How soon after salting can you apply the egg? Do you need to wait about a full week?
And do you wash the salt off before the egg? Or just scrape it off
yes you do wash it off, you wait for as long as it takes the hide to cure or get stiff and hard. Then its ready for the egg tan.@@rasbe420
Hi, very beautiful job. (rabitt leather haw tanin?) thank you. Good work❤
Thank you! I am learning how to bark tan early next year!
If I do want to smoke a sheep hide, how long do I smoke it for? Do you maybe have a video how to smoke a hide.
I have read everything from 30 mins to 48 hours! I have never done it!
Thank you for your reply
a very slow and highly informative video, i'll have to give the egg wash a try with my next kangaroo.
Amazing, good luck!
I was searching for the easiest way of tanning at home.. I think this the right one. Sorry, i could not understand after first salting how many weeks you kept it for rest? And instead of olive oil can i use soya bean oil or mustered oil?
You keep the salt on it just until it dried and hardens! This preserves the hide. And I am not sure about those oils, I would do research on them and see if they do the same thing to hides! Or test them out on a small hide like a rabbit!
Also with the second salting, you didn't mention how long you left it on for?
It depends on the weather and size of the hide, mine took 4 days in the winter you just want the hide to be completely dry and preserved and then you can wash it off or dry scrape it!
The 2nd time you added the salt did you leave it for a few days? You said you scraped it off? Is that after you let it dry?,🙈
Exactly my question too.
Yes you can scrape it off dry or wash it off it’s up to you! You just want to leave the salt on until it’s completely dry to preserve the hide! I think mine took 4 days the second time because it was so cold!
After the final scrape, before applying egg solution, is the hide/fur wet or dry? I’ve seen others wash their hide (sheep or rabbit) and while still wet put the egg solution on and cover with the damp towel and set 48 hours. But both times I’ve attempted it that way, my fur slipped and my hide went bad. I’m wondering if it is the wet fur when setting the egg solution? I’m so tired of losing hides and don’t know where I’m messing it up in the process.
Yeah I did have it wet, what kind of hide is it? Rabbits are more prone to slippage and it sounds like you aren't salting it properly if it "went bad". The salt kills the bacteria that causes slippage and you really want it to dry after the egg tan, dont let it be wet for a while or it will rot after. If you are tired of messing up I would honestly try alum tawing, I have another video for that method and its much more user friendly and it soaks in the salt in alum so it doesn't go bad very fast, you just stretch it after the soak for a few days with neatsfoot oil.
If I made a wrack and string the hide tight before I egg wash it do I have to still do the tedious stretching?
Yes you will! It’s essentially flattens it out and makes it easier to stretch but if you’re wanting it to be a nice piece not rawhide you need to stretch it either way!
Hi. Great video.
May I ask, why did you use different brands of salt each time?
Thank you. I just use whatever salt I can find thats cheap, now i use that $7 bag for 10lbs from tractor supply!
Hi thanks for your response.
Do you recommend these brand of salt over others? I know you said not to use table salt, is there any specific reason as to why not?
@@Resolute900 Yes any salt that is not ionized! The iodine in regular table salt can stain your hide I have heard!
When you wash it before stretching, how do you wash it? I have seen people reccomend specific soaps and tempuratures of water, just curious what you used/use.
I just pop it in the bathtub if its cold or by plastic tub if its warm outside, and add our eco friendly detergent and scrub the wool and mix it around! The water is warm and I've never had an issue with regular detergent on it!
Hi, thank you for the vídeo, really nice. What do you do with the hides? Thanks
I sell them, give them away, or use them for pet beds or dining room chair covers!!
@@therosyranch oh, I wanted to ask you as well how do you brush the hide? It seems so messy right now🤔 thank you
@@sofiatrindade1949 Yeah it does take some time, I use a professional pet blower to remove grass seeds and a pet brush to brush out any loose hair and dirt!
@@therosyranch the pet brush is a big one? There are a ton of type and I am not sure which one to take. Thank you
@@sofiatrindade1949 just a brush with teeth, see in my video at 22:43 its a basic cat, small dog brush.
How long did you keep the second layer of salt for??
You can keep it salted (cured) for as long as you need, but I salted it until it was dry and hardened.
@@therosyranch
What kind of water did you use to wash the hides??
@@tree3826 umm water from the hose 😂
do you have to smoke it?
No I don’t smoke mine! It just isn’t waterproof.
@@therosyranch ah sweet ok!
What do you do with these kind of sheepskins once you are done tanning? I'd like to tan a sheep skin and make some mitts; probably a hat after that. I have no need really for them but it's something I'd love to do.
I do really like to use them on wooden chairs as covers and as small rugs, it’s very rustic decor. the ones that don’t turn out nice I use for my cats beds. My next project I hope to make some chaps out of the white ones! I think they would make great gloves and a hat!
They’re really helpful for beds and chairs where people have any limited mobility or are prone to pressure issues. They could probably be made into some very comfortable slippers.
You're awesome! Thanks
Aww thank you! You are welcome!
does this work on rabbit skin too? i can get fresh rabbits skins for free, but sourcing chemicals to tan skins is out of my reach where i live. also, what kind of salt is that?
Yes it does work for any hide. It’s non iodized salt, just anything but the regular table salt. It has iodine in it.
@@therosyranch thank you very very much :D . friend raises rabbits, but throws away the fur. it would be waste of perfectly good hide, wouldnt be ;) ? thanks again.
Much Love from Cleveland Ohio #farmfresh
Hi there
Why can’t you use table salt?
When I first read how to preserve hides, most people said no iodized salt or rock salt. Just in case it hurts the hide or affects the tanning agent. Table salt it usually iodized. But some people do use it, I just would rather not mess up my hides if possible :)
Awesome thank you - have been collecting rabbit hides and have just got our first 2 sheep ones :) exciting new journey. Your video was fantastic and clear. Thank you!
@@S_bees3991 Oh amazing! Thank you, I can't wait to see them, tag me on instagram if you have one!
I certainly will! My page on Insta is Sanders an Co Homestead NZ if you wanna follow :)
The ouuboo knife? What's the name sorry? Thank you 😊
It is an ulu knife!
Do not salt and roll then place in bucket.. you need the salt to pull moisture out of hide, the air needs to dry the salt.. let it breathe
@@Michael-zb6uw works great for me each time
Does the salt keep the pelt from molding if leaving it wet in a bucket?
It does keep it from going bad and helps keep the hair in place when it’s dry. But if it’s left in a solution of water even with salt if has the potential to mold after a couple days if in warm temperature. Colder temps you don’t have to worry about your hide going bad as much.
@@therosyranch but if it's soaked when I cover in salt and put in a empty bucket for five days won't it still mildew?
@@JacksonJDoyel it depends on your area, here in Colorado it wouldn’t mildew.