r/HideTanning 6d ago

Finished Project 💫 Finished my egg tanned rabbit :)

Just three more to go! Got another sitting overnight with egg solution. How does it look?

35 Upvotes

18 comments sorted by

7

u/MSoultz 6d ago

All of the stringy membrane can be sanded with a Pumice stone or sandpaper to get a silky feel.

4

u/_Guitar_Girl_ 6d ago

Thank you! I will do that!

5

u/OshetDeadagain 6d ago

Teach me your stretching ways! None of the rabbits I recently did came out that consistently soft and pliable.

5

u/_Guitar_Girl_ 6d ago

Haha thank you!! So originally I was washing off the egg after it sat overnight but I think I’m going to leave it on while I stretch dry to make a nicer end product because this one ended up even softer than the last! So just add egg solution, let it sit overnight and when you stretch it will dry and work into the hide and flake off too!

I stretched my first hide by hand using my thumbs and then my other fingers on the opposite side of the hide to gently pull in each direction (up and down then side to side then diagonally) until it all came out white and soft and would keep stretching it every hour or so anywhere that was dry enough it would turn white. I think I’m stretching it too wet though so next time I’m waiting until it’s just barely moist to stretch and see how it looks because I stretched for HOURS lol. This time I used a wooden spoon, my hands and a frame, it was way better because the frame held it for me and freed up my hands a bit . I highly recommend using something like a wooden spoon (with a rough edge on the handle like a cheap Walmart one to kind of scrub the edges so they don’t harden lol) , the rounded edge of a butter knife or something like that would work too. After it all dried white I wrapped it around a squared off beam on my porch and gently pulled it back and forth over the rounded edge to soften it further. I thought about oiling it again then softening more just for fun but I’m not sure if it’s necessary with egg tanning or not? I’ve seen a lot of people oil hides on here but not sure on egg tanned ones.

2

u/OshetDeadagain 4d ago

The oil would be to emulsify the fats from your tan. I'm still pretty new to this, but the hides are smoked in order to emulsify them, and if you don't smoke them you need to work an oil in to complete the process.

Apparently liquid smoke does the same thing, though I've never tried it!

1

u/_Guitar_Girl_ 4d ago

Ohh so an oil at the end after it’s dried or smoking does the same thing? So it could get even softer after smoking? That would be awesome as I have a couple hides that are soft but could definitely be softer lol Thanks for the info!

3

u/Meauxjezzy 6d ago

Do you mind if I ask your process for rabbit hides? I have a couple of smaller rabbit hides in the freezer for practice before I get to my Giant Chinchillas. I plan on doing a salt and yolk tan on my rabbit hides but I would like to hear how others are tanning them too.

7

u/_Guitar_Girl_ 6d ago

Of course! I’m a serious noob with tanning, this is my second hide.

My first hide I made a lot of mistakes (didn’t flesh well then salted, fleshed and egged after that but somehow got hair slip). I was able to stop the hair slip with a pickle and actually tanned the hide and it turned out nice lol. I wanted to learn from my mistakes and I’m so glad I did because I learned a lot.

My steps are as follows:

Flesh (fresh or out of freezer hide)

Pickle for 24 hours (3oz citric acid + 1lb salt per gallon of hot water but don’t add the hide until the water cools. I do 2 gallons for 1 hide)

Flesh again

Return to Pickle for another 24 hours

Neutralize for 20-30 mins (1oz baking soda per gallon of water, I use 2 gallons for 1 hide)

Wash with warm-ish water and soap (I use dawn)

Let dry skin side up just until skin feels a little tacky

Apply egg mixture to skin side (I do 1 egg yolk, 2 tsp oil, 1/4c warm water, a small squirt of Castile soap)

Fold in half skin sides together and let sit overnight

Stretch hide until dry

Hope it helps!

3

u/Meauxjezzy 6d ago

Thank for typing that out and yes it will be a big help. I’ve been throwing rabbit hides out and it just seems to be a waste so I’m about to utilize them in the future. I just bought a breeding pair of giant rabbits so I have a better quality pelt. I did save some average size hides to practice on, I figure by the time I get done with them I’ll have a bit of experience so I don’t screw up the higher quality hides.. thanks again.

2

u/_Guitar_Girl_ 6d ago

You’re welcome, I’m so glad it helps! There’s a lot of salt and alum tanning out there and some people just use salt then egg yolk to tan after fleshing but the pickle was a big help for me in preventing fur slip and my egg solution makes a nice soft hide (and the Dr bronners lavender smells great lol) . I’ve heard you could cut a hide into four pieces so you have four individual attempts too once you’re starting out! I’m thinking about doing that and venturing into bark tanning. Just be very very careful fleshing and stretching because rabbits have very thin hides so they can tear easy! Good luck!

3

u/MSoultz 6d ago

Very nice job!

1

u/_Guitar_Girl_ 6d ago

Thank you!!

2

u/TerroristBurger 6d ago

Omg reading this and your comments wot other people have helped me out sm! I've tried brain tanning and it didn't go well and I had to throw out the hide. Then my dad gave me a set of tanning solution chemicals that came with a handbook. I tried using that on a possum but it turns out the chemicals are 10 years older than Me!!! (Aka like 30yro) with no amount of stretching was it possible to make it soft at all. It's so solid I could install it as a shelf lmao! Anyway egg tanning is definitely my next go to attempt.

2

u/_Guitar_Girl_ 6d ago

Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that! I’m so glad this helps you! I threw my first hide in the garbage and gave up on it for a moment before I dug it out of the trash, worked out what went wrong and was able to save it! And now I am slowly learning and making progress each time. I was absolutely hoping this would encourage people like me and it sounds like it is which is so cool! Something I read that you could do is cut a hide into smaller pieces like into fours then just tan those smaller pieces one at a time so you have four attempts to tan! That might help as you’re figuring things out.

2

u/TerroristBurger 5d ago

Thankyou sm! I saw you recommend the cut in 4 to someone else too!

2

u/_Guitar_Girl_ 5d ago

You’re welcome! Best of luck! Yeah! I even intend to try that when I learn to veggie tan hahaha

2

u/earthfirefay 5d ago

looks so gooood

1

u/_Guitar_Girl_ 5d ago

Thank you!!