Anyone ever heard of a tanning procedure using bran flakes? I recently read an article in an old Mother Earth News explaining it. I tried it out on a deer hide - fleshing, salting and drying until it was crisp, then rehydrating and soaking in @ 2 gallons of water, 8 cups of salt, 2 gallons of seeped bran flakes, and two cups of sulfuric. I soaked for 40 minutes, rinsed awhile in water and baking soda, rubbed in about 4 ounces of neats foot, and tacked it up. After a day I took it down, ran over the flesh side with a wire brush and started breaking.
I guess it worked. Kinda. : ) Warrents experimentation I think. Although next time, I'm goin' with the products talked about here...
Mike
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This sounds like the Flour tan they used in the Middle East. Basically they mixed the flour and milk and used it as a tan. It broke down chemically to utilize the Lactic acid as a preservative. Unfortunately the tan was only good for 1-2 years and then it was useless as the preservative effect wears off.
That answered the question I was pondering. What exactly is the purpose of the bran. Initally I thought it was for color, but found that wasn't it. I agree, the hide just doesn't seem stable. It was an experience tho...
Hi Mike,
Tanning with wheat flour was a common way to tan sheep skin rugs in Scandinavia, mostly because it is so simple compared to other traditional methods.
This is a recipe for a sheep rug, which Ive tried with good results:
Two handfulls of flour and one handfull of salt is rubbed into the meatside. Then the skin is folded, a weight is put on and its left to set for three days.
Scrape off flour and salt and stretch/break the hide until soft.
The skin should not be washed. Finished!
A skin treated like this will be white and relatively brittle. The Scandinavian rugs where used mainly as bedcovers, and as far as know, they could last for a lifetime and more.
Chemically,the enzymes in the flour (or in your case the bran flakes) react with the skins protein structure and tans it.
Im not certain what role the sulphuric played in your recipe.. maybe as bactericide.
Good luck with your experiments!