Filling, or dressing of skins, is a very ancient occupation. For a long time, man has used the skins of hunted animals for the manufacture of clothing. In order for the skin to become a comfortable fur coat, hat or jacket, it takes a lot of work on it.
Necessary
Enamel bowl or glassware, coarse rye or oat flour, table salt, soda, yeast, chrome alum, washing powder
Instructions
Step 1
Place the skin dried in a freshly dry way in a tank and fill it with water. Soak, changing the water twice a day and kneading for several days. As a result, the skin should look like a fresh one. So that, while soaking, the skin is at the same time washed off, add washing powder to the water.
Step 2
The next stage after soaking is fleshing. Stretch the skin over the log with the fur inward, or spread out if it is large. Use a dull knife, or the back of a hacksaw, or a steel brush to gently scrape off any remaining fat, meat and film from the tail to the head and from the back to the belly.
Step 3
Degrease the hide by rinsing it again in a solution of detergent, shampoo, or toilet soap, whichever you are cleaning. Allow all the water to drain and wipe the inside of the skin with a clean, dry cloth to remove any excess moisture.
Step 4
The next stage of milling is fermentation. In an enamel or glass container, prepare the following composition: in 1 liter of hot water, stir 200 g of coarse rye or oatmeal flour, add 7 g of yeast, 25 g of sodium chloride and 0.5 g of baking soda to the chatter box. For 1 kg of skins, 3 kg of this jelly is needed.
Step 5
In the cooled solution, immerse the skin with the skin outside. The process is quite long, but it is important not to overexpose, because this can lead to hair loss. Turn the skin over from time to time. After 2-3 days, a white bloom should appear on the surface of the flesh and the solution will acquire a persistent smell of bread. The process is over. Remove, let the solution drain and start tanning.
Step 6
Put 7 g of chrome alum and 55-60 g of table salt on 1 liter of water. Stirring occasionally, soak the skin in the solution for 12 to 24 hours. For 1 kg of skins, there should be 3 liters of chrome tanning agent.
Step 7
Prepare willow bark and small twigs. Fill a bowl with them without tamping and boil for 30 minutes. Then drain the solution, add 50 g of table salt to 1 liter of water and cool. This is tannin tanning. The skin can stay in it from 12 hours to 4 days until the skin is completely saturated. After tanning, put the skin under pressure for ripening for two days.
Step 8
To make the skin soft, increase its strength and elasticity, live the flesh with some kind of water-fat emulsion. After fattening, leave the skin to lie for 3-4 hours. Without letting the skin dry completely, knead, stretch it in different directions. Then rub the flesh with chalk and rub with sandpaper. It remains to give a marketable appearance - knock out the skin and comb the fur.
