At Catalaya's Rabbitry our chosen method of tanning our rabbit pelts is with a Salt/Acid pickling solution. It is very easy.
Tanning Rabbit Pelts
1. After dressing the rabbit, toss the raw hide (split down the belly or cased doesn't matter) into a Ziploc bag and put it into the freezer. Do not salt or dry out,
you don’t even have to flesh them either. When you have enough to tan get them out, we usually wait until we have at least 6.
2. Thaw out the frozen hides and run under warm water in order to remove any ice.
3. Rinse well and squeeze out excess water DO NOT WRING THEM!!! SQUEEZE ONLY!!
4. You will need:
1 Plastic 5 Gallon Bucket
2 pounds or rock salt or pickling salt
8 ounces of Battery Acid which can be
found at an Automotive Parts store fairly cheap
Wooden Stick or Spoon
Rock
5. Run 1 gallon of HOT water into the bucket, add salt and stir to dissolve. Add 1 gallon of cool water. Water temp. should be about 70 degrees.
6. Slowly add acid. Be careful not to splash liquid and stir carefully with wooden stick or spoon. You may want to wear rubber gloves for this. ALWAYS WEAR EYEPROTECTION! Do not add the water to the acid make sure to add the acid to the water otherwise you wont like the results.
7. Lower the completely thawed hides one at a time into the bucket. Submerge in liquid with the stick and place rock on top of hides to hold them in the slotion. At this stage the acid is not strong enough to do any real damage to your skin but you don not want to splash it into your eyes!
8. Put a piece of plywood on top of the bucket and stash away where no one will disturb it or get into it. Make sure that wherever you put it, it will stay at approx. 70 degrees. Too hot and the hides will be
damaged, too cold and the tanning process will be delayed.
9. Leave the bucket alone for 1 week. Put your rubber gloves on then gently remove hides from the acid solution with the stick. Allow them to drip over the bucket then SQUEEZE to remove any excess liquid. Run under cool water and add dish detergent to remove the remaining acid mixture. Rinse and SQUEEZE out.
10. At this point the flesh on the underside of the hide should be thickened and somewhat separated from the hide. Grasp a piece on the edge and you should be able to simply peel the flesh off, often all in one piece. Be very careful with junior hides, as they tend to be very thin and easy to tear. If the flesh
is very tight on the hide, it isn’t ready yet and should be returned to the acid solution for a few more days.
11. After fleshing, return the hides to the acid solution and leave for at least another week (can be safely left for up to a year).
12. When you pull out the hides swish them around in soapy water. Squeeze as much water out as possible. Now lay pelts over the porch railing, back step, or make a drying rack to allow the pelts to drip dry. We find the clothes rack works nice. At the first sign of drying (white patches on the flesh side), work the hides gently over the back of a chair, 2X4, fence post, rough rope ect. pulling the pelt back and forth and then pull gently till the flesh side turns white all over. Pelts can be thrown in a very cool clothes dryer and tumbled for a while to help the drying/softening process.
13. If you have allowed the pelts to dry stiff without working them, toss them in a pan of water to soften and then start over with the drying/working process. It doesn’t take more than a few minutes each to work the hides to a nice suede like softness. Rub the fur side over the back of a chair also to make the fur soft and natural looking. After you are done with the
tanning solution, add a couple cups of baking soda to neutralize the acid. This makes it completely safe to dispose of.
Tanning Rabbit Pelts
1. After dressing the rabbit, toss the raw hide (split down the belly or cased doesn't matter) into a Ziploc bag and put it into the freezer. Do not salt or dry out,
you don’t even have to flesh them either. When you have enough to tan get them out, we usually wait until we have at least 6.
2. Thaw out the frozen hides and run under warm water in order to remove any ice.
3. Rinse well and squeeze out excess water DO NOT WRING THEM!!! SQUEEZE ONLY!!
4. You will need:
1 Plastic 5 Gallon Bucket
2 pounds or rock salt or pickling salt
8 ounces of Battery Acid which can be
found at an Automotive Parts store fairly cheap
Wooden Stick or Spoon
Rock
5. Run 1 gallon of HOT water into the bucket, add salt and stir to dissolve. Add 1 gallon of cool water. Water temp. should be about 70 degrees.
6. Slowly add acid. Be careful not to splash liquid and stir carefully with wooden stick or spoon. You may want to wear rubber gloves for this. ALWAYS WEAR EYEPROTECTION! Do not add the water to the acid make sure to add the acid to the water otherwise you wont like the results.
7. Lower the completely thawed hides one at a time into the bucket. Submerge in liquid with the stick and place rock on top of hides to hold them in the slotion. At this stage the acid is not strong enough to do any real damage to your skin but you don not want to splash it into your eyes!
8. Put a piece of plywood on top of the bucket and stash away where no one will disturb it or get into it. Make sure that wherever you put it, it will stay at approx. 70 degrees. Too hot and the hides will be
damaged, too cold and the tanning process will be delayed.
9. Leave the bucket alone for 1 week. Put your rubber gloves on then gently remove hides from the acid solution with the stick. Allow them to drip over the bucket then SQUEEZE to remove any excess liquid. Run under cool water and add dish detergent to remove the remaining acid mixture. Rinse and SQUEEZE out.
10. At this point the flesh on the underside of the hide should be thickened and somewhat separated from the hide. Grasp a piece on the edge and you should be able to simply peel the flesh off, often all in one piece. Be very careful with junior hides, as they tend to be very thin and easy to tear. If the flesh
is very tight on the hide, it isn’t ready yet and should be returned to the acid solution for a few more days.
11. After fleshing, return the hides to the acid solution and leave for at least another week (can be safely left for up to a year).
12. When you pull out the hides swish them around in soapy water. Squeeze as much water out as possible. Now lay pelts over the porch railing, back step, or make a drying rack to allow the pelts to drip dry. We find the clothes rack works nice. At the first sign of drying (white patches on the flesh side), work the hides gently over the back of a chair, 2X4, fence post, rough rope ect. pulling the pelt back and forth and then pull gently till the flesh side turns white all over. Pelts can be thrown in a very cool clothes dryer and tumbled for a while to help the drying/softening process.
13. If you have allowed the pelts to dry stiff without working them, toss them in a pan of water to soften and then start over with the drying/working process. It doesn’t take more than a few minutes each to work the hides to a nice suede like softness. Rub the fur side over the back of a chair also to make the fur soft and natural looking. After you are done with the
tanning solution, add a couple cups of baking soda to neutralize the acid. This makes it completely safe to dispose of.