I just finished my first rabbit hides that I have had sitting in the freezer for a while with salt and allum spread thickly on the flesh side. The scraping was a breeze. I then used a blow dryer to kick start the drying process, get some of the fur dry. I worked and stretched the hides many times during the evening, then let them finish drying over night, hung over the backs of my chairs. They are beautiful, sturdy, and are working into soft white leather. I am really happy, used no chemicals. BUT, they smell. The smell of rabbit meat is in them. It doesn't stink perse, just isn't going to go well with people who wear them. Is there a way I can get this out?
Thanks
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you have basiclly dry preserved them. you have not pickled them or removed the body fluids by chemical reaction.
go to the archives in the tanning colum and start over!1111
How much is your time worth, Kim?
Domestic rabbits in quantity enough to make garments run from 90 cents to 3 dollars each. You will need more than 30 skins per jacket. Linings are running in the $9 per yard OR MORE for bemberg cheap stuff and $18 per yard OR MORE for silks. 2 yards per lining. Tailoring is $30 or more an hour. We'll not even talk about fur charge to sew the skins!
So are you going to work for 18 cents an hour to sell rabbit to wearables customers?
Better bet is to tan the skins "for real" and sell them as-is to collectors. The smell won't be as much an issue and they'll happily pay 4 to 5 dollars for a purebred skin and more for a matched pair.
If you're just doing it as a hobby, ask the people who will wear these things for fun, if they would object to alum on their skin. The smell will go away when the skins are totally dry, just like the rotten-ear smell of coyotes. It's the irritating alum on the skin of people that will turn them off.
And - you should be oiling these pelts... or else they are prone to rip!
Alum is a chemical and your skins are not tanned.