Bark tanning

I started bark tanning a deer hide a while back. I'd never done it before and I definitely had quite a bit of learning to do.

Bark tanning is an old European technique that uses the tannins present in the bark of trees to tan a hide. It was mainly used on thick hides, like those of cows and horses, to make hard leathers for saddles and other such products.

Compared to brain tanned buckskin, which is soft and stretchy but absorbs water like a sponge, bark tanning deer hides gives us a product that is less stretchy, with more of a leathery feel, and that is more water resistant but breathes less.

Bark tanning is less labor intensive than brain tanning but takes much longer and needs quite a bit of babysitting. First, I harvested bark from Douglas Fir trees, probably about 5 gallons worth. We had felled quite a few trees around the cabin to thin out the forest so it was not hard to gather that much bark. I then dried the bark and broke it into chunks by hand. Bark should not be exposed to water before or during storage as tannins are water soluble.

Then, I put as much bark as possible in a stainless steel pot (don't use iron or aluminum or that will react with the tannins in the bark) and covered with water. I boiled the bark for a short while and let it cool, giving me strong bark tea. It actually smells really good and sweet!

In the meantime, I soaked the hide in water until the hair slipped out very easily. I removed the hair with an old rag so as not to damage the grain. Then I membraned the hide really good while protecting the grain with a towel.

When the bark tea has cooled I add two parts water to it in a 5-gallon bucket and then I add the hide to the mixture. It's very important that the tea is cool (I learned that the hard way; apparently grain-on hides cannot take as much heat as scraped hides) and that you start with a diluted solution (otherwise, the outside gets too tight and the tannins never penetrate to the inside of the hide). It's also important to move the hide around in the bucket as often as possible (every hour or so); actually, the more water it has to swim in the better (it just takes a lot more bark of course).

After a couple of days the hide will absorb the tannins and take on the reddish color while the water is becoming more clear. So you have to add more tea. After about a week go to a one part tea to one part water mix. After two weeks you can go full strength.

My hide has been in that tea for about three weeks now and it still has a long way to go. Apparently, it could take a couple of months for it to be ready! I'll keep you posted on what's happening with it. (See how it turned out here: http://sustainablelivingproject.blogspot.com/2011/07/bark-tanned-deer-hide.html)

If your hide starts smelling bad and becomes blistery, something's gone wrong and it's time to let go of it! Bury it in your compost or in the ground.

Have fun!

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