Variations of these methods are still used by do-it-yourself outdoorsmen to tan hides. Approximately 300 grams of brain mass is needed for a deer skin. Therefore, needs to be used immediately or must be frozen. It is available at the slaughterhouse or butcher, if one does not have the head of the animal. Usually, the brain mass of an animal is enough to make leather from its skin. The skin can be damaged if not done with care.Īny holes that exist in the leather need to be sewed up.īrain tanning: Basically, the brain can be used for all animals. Stretching the skin in the stretching and drying frame.ĭry-scraping must be done carefully from left to right and from top to bottom. It is not surprising to find insects stuck in the animal skin when the hair is scraped off. There is a clear separation between fat and meat remnants and the end product

The fat and meat remnants must be removed. Visiting a tanning course with brain tanning. Without this process, the leather turns out to be whitish and water-sensitive. To ensure a long-lasting softness of the leather, it was traditionally stored in a special tent over wood smoke, which gave the skin a dark brown tone and also made it waterproof, thus achieving better protection. The brain mass must be pressed into the fibre with considerable effort. This is the only way to ensure the leather gets beautifully soft. The skin layer of the hair side, as well as the fat and flesh remnants of the back, must be carefully and thoroughly removed so that the brain can fully penetrate the fibres. Brain tanning is high on manual labour and the process is not as easy, compared to alternative tanning methods. This method involves 100% natural products, so there is no need for additional 'chemistry'.īut there are disadvantages. Also, the technical effort is low and it is easy to make the leather soft. The larger the skin, the harder the work.Īdvantages of brain tanning: The brain was always readily available after the animals were killed and tanning with brain is a very fast process. The hides of all mammals are suitable for brain tanning.

This tanning process was also familiar to the Zulus in Africa, the Sami in Scandinavia and the different groups of people from Asia. This leather was also called 'Indian leather' and ' buckskin'. Historically, brain tanning was mainly done by North American Indians who also used smoke as a way of preserving the skins. The tanning of animal skins with animal brain mass is an almost forgotten method and is rarely practised today.

1 Brain tanning - Buckskin - Indian leatherīrain tanning - Buckskin - Indian leather.

Long dark cured leather