Tanning Hides - Softening
Softening
The following morning after the last coating uncover and begin to stretch your hide. Do just like it sounds, pull the hide in every direction. You need to pull and stretch the hide until it is dry. The more stretching you do the softer the hide will be. This is the softening process.
Some spots will invariably be less soft and tougher than others, at least the first few times you try your hand at tanning. This is fixable by simply applying more brain solution to the hide, let it soak in then stretch it until it is dry.
Keep in mind stretching does not mean setting the hide up where there is pressure pulling the hide such as forcing a cased hide over an object that it hardly fits on. No stretching is a working process like stirring. It takes time and energy and you have to pull the hide in different directions over and over as it dries.
After the hide is completely dry you can help them last longer by smoking the hide. The object is to take a completely dry hide and saturate it with smoke but not cook or heat it excessively. The smoke is the object, a campfire will do or you can build an elaborate smoker.
DONE!
Return to Tanning Step 1
The following morning after the last coating uncover and begin to stretch your hide. Do just like it sounds, pull the hide in every direction. You need to pull and stretch the hide until it is dry. The more stretching you do the softer the hide will be. This is the softening process.
Some spots will invariably be less soft and tougher than others, at least the first few times you try your hand at tanning. This is fixable by simply applying more brain solution to the hide, let it soak in then stretch it until it is dry.
Keep in mind stretching does not mean setting the hide up where there is pressure pulling the hide such as forcing a cased hide over an object that it hardly fits on. No stretching is a working process like stirring. It takes time and energy and you have to pull the hide in different directions over and over as it dries.
After the hide is completely dry you can help them last longer by smoking the hide. The object is to take a completely dry hide and saturate it with smoke but not cook or heat it excessively. The smoke is the object, a campfire will do or you can build an elaborate smoker.
DONE!
Return to Tanning Step 1
