Boy oh boy, do I have a job ahead of me!
Yesterday a customer brought me a domestic sheep hide that he wants me to tan as a rug (no head or legs though, just the back hide). I now have it drying, after a second salting, and it looks pretty good. I'm just wondering, though... is it feasible for me to try tanning it myself?
I've tanned alot of smaller animals myself (with EZtan), but I'm sure this is going to be alot different! This is a very large domestic friesian sheep (certainly no lamb!) and it has very, very long wool (which happens to have all sorts of leaves, dirt, dried blood, and other whatnot tangled in it).
So, where should I go from here? I think I should send it to a tannery. Once I have it salt dried, can anyone recommend a good tannery that would accept this hide? Also, do I have to remove all the leaves and dirt before sending it, or will the tannery clean this out?
THANKS!
Amy Ritchie
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Amy,
I seen special products online specifiacally for tanning sheep hides to that nice soft 'shearling' tan if that's what he wants. I've heard that they're not the easiest thing in the world to tan :) If it were me, I'd send it out!
Wolfwoman
Bucks Co. Fur, Quakerstown PA 215-536-6614
Not many places will do sheep.
about tanning yourself. Its not the tanning thats hard, its getting the wool clean and degreased. I had two merinos to do this year, what a mess, blood, mud and other smelly stuff all stuck to fur. Bucks Co. will do only flat hides, since I needed capes done, New Method in Ca. did a great job, nice, clean and white.
Amy, if I recall, I think Bruce Rittel had a thread on here about sheep skin tanning. I think he said it wasn't the tanning that was difficult, it was removing the lanolin from the hide. Check the archives to be sure.
I've sent lots of my pelts to Moosehead Tanners in Maine with great results. Bloody, yucky, leaf-filled pelts come back fluffy and white and clean. The best thing is they are machine-washable.
Just for the experience, I've tanned one myself, and the combing of the wool was one of the most time consuming part of the job, and it's not nearly as nice as the way they do it. I'm sending 7 more pelts to them right now.
Elizabeth