I have been reading several articles lately on tanning furs. I came across a few unusual methods...which includes using tannins from oak or maple leaves. One of the easiest I read was one where the skins are pickled then shaved, then soaked in a strong tea solution so that the tannins from the tea absorb into the skins, then drying and oiling as normal.
Has anyone ever heard of this?
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I think in the end all you would have is a tea-stained
pickle-dried hide. But maybe I am wrong.
I dunno.......there is some other guy here that said he or his grandmother or someone used oak leaves to tan. Remember, the word TANNING comes from "TANNIN" as in tannic acid, which eludes to the process of adding tannins in the form of tannic acid to the skins to preserve them. Chem-tans acheive the same results using other chemicals, but originally, it was simply that.....using tannic acid to bond to the keratins and other protiens in the skins to preserve them. Considering that black tea has considerably more tannic acid than oak leaves, it SOUNDS feasable.
Use the search button, I forgot where it is posted.
My original question stand as "Could you tan a skin using tea as a source of tannin?"
I am trying to stick to older tanning methods that are relatively easy (which excludes brain tanning) and that will provide relatively reliable results.
I was just wondering if anyone had ever heard of this before, because when I read it, it seems a bit strange to me. Pretty much, the book says you make a very strong tea by brewing, then soak the hide until it turns a meduim tan color, then dry and oil.
tried the leaf thing years ago and the skin would have been better used as a driveway patch. Unless you are just experminting i would go with lutan f. I'm sure that I did something wrong with the leaf deal can't remember exactly what I did. I do remember that it was a dissappointment. One place you may find info on tea tanning is the farmers alamac they have all kinds of old method ideas. good luck
It works fine, but the hide has to be stakedm thats why it stayed stiff. Or chewed.
Well, before I come off as seeming to be rude, I am trying these 'off' methods in an attempt to stay 'true to my roots' in a manner of speaking. Back in my great grandmother's day, they didnt have EZ-Tan, yet, SHE preserved MANY coon and squirrel hides to make hats out of and so forth. Unfortunatly, she passed before I was born, and my grandmother didn't remember how she did it either.
By the assumption that she was relatively poor, and probably didn't have much time to devote to tanning hides, I am attempting to recreate her methods. My Grandmother eluded to the fact that "it had something to do with tea leaves and shoe oil". I am assuming this means she soaked the skins in a strong tea after pickling and oiled them using something similar to Neat's Foot Oil.
LA270hunter,
Try braintan.com, they have a section on bark tanning. It is entirely possible to tan good hides with natural materials. Also, braintan is not that hard. No matter what method you use, you'll have to break the hide to soften. In my opinion and experience chemical tans tend to weaken the leather unlike braintan
thanks a ton man. I SERIOUSLY appreciate your help. I must have overlooked that portion of the braintan site.
I did not mean to insult anyone, I just wanted to use a more 'traditional' method to tan than chemtans.
According to the information under bark tanning....tea CAN be used, and supposedly, results in a fairly nice soft hide when done properly. My only mistake so far was not using a weakened solution to start with and THEN moving to a stronger tea. Supposedly, using too strong of a mixture will not allow the tannins to reach the interior of the hide, resulting in a partially tanned fur. They suggest adding vinegar to the solution to improve penetration of the tannins. My squirrel has been in this strong tea solution for 2 days now. I am going to lower the Ph to the recommended 2.5 and check it in two more days.
Let us know how it goes. I've been planning to do a bark tan, but
just haven't done it yet, braintanning takes all my spare time.
Okay, the squirrel is finished. The tea imparted a nice medium brown color to the hide. I used Neatsfoot oil and broke the hide in an old dryer. It is relatively soft, but I can tell I should have done a better job of fleshing.