The inner surface of the raw skin is a scanword. Leather production. Production of natural leather. Processes in the production of leather. Types of leather Leather production process

Most defects in raw materials arise from violations of the rules for primary processing, conservation or storage of skins. In some cases, violation of the conservation technology can lead to irreparable defects that make it impossible to make a semi-finished product or reduce the quality of the finished product.

So that you are not handed a batch of defective raw materials, you need to be able to identify possible defects and know how this or that defect may affect further processing. We will talk about methods for eliminating defects obtained during preservation and how to recognize these defects, but for now we will tell you how to properly preserve and store skins.

First of all, care should be taken in advance that the skins are not contaminated - adhering feces (bulk) spoil the hairline, make ritual difficult and not only serve as an excellent breeding ground for the reproduction of putrefactive bacteria, but also, being not completely removed during the process, prevent penetration deep into the skin preservative solution. The result is poor-quality conservation, even if all norms are observed (terms, consumption of materials, etc.).

Contaminated raw materials have to be additionally trimmed in order to free them from bulk, and this takes extra time, effort and complicates the dressing process, while the complete removal of bulk from sheepskins without a special tool - an electric planer - is generally impossible, since it can lead to the formation of bald spots. That is why it is so important to keep the animals before slaughter for 3 hours without water and up to one day without food. The recommended rates of pre-slaughter aging without food are 16-18 hours for fur-bearing animals and rabbits, 22-24 hours for sheep, goats and cattle, and about 12 hours for pigs.

The removed skin should cool down before skinning, this is necessary both to facilitate skinning and to create the best conditions for subsequent preservation. At the same time, cooling for longer than an hour and a half is not recommended, otherwise no preservation will cope with the rapidly multiplying microorganisms in the skinned skin.

Mezdra remaining on the leather tissue, cuts of meat and fat make preservation difficult and can reduce its effectiveness. Therefore, they must be completely removed, which is very difficult if the cooled skin has folds and folds - in this case, with excessive zeal, the dermis itself can easily be damaged. To prevent this from happening, the steam skin is carefully straightened. The skins of fur-bearing animals and rabbits, removed with a "stocking", are turned inside out with fur and tightly stuffed with straw or pulled on a wooden blank (Fig. 6), on which they are then skinned. Small skins removed from the cavity are straightened with the skin side up on a straightening board and fixed along the contour with pegs.

Rice. 6. Spreading small skins for skinning

The ritual of large leather raw materials is facilitated by the use of special tools and devices. It is more convenient to knock down bulk and other pollution with a dead end knife on the deck: the skin is laid out with the hair side out and the head part up, the working stroke of the dead end is only in the direction of hair growth (that is, from top to bottom). If necessary, the rituals of the outer side of the skin, start with it and only then move on to the inside. As a tool for scraping the mezdrya side, you can use an arc knife, a scythe blade (of course, wrapping the sharp end with a piece of matting, tarpaulin, etc.).

The skinning of sheepskins and goatskins is carried out on the table, large skins are removed from cuts on a special inclined deck (Fig. 7). The remnants of muscle tissue are driven in the direction from the rump to the head, and on the floors - from the ridge to the belly.

Rice. 7. Tools and devices that facilitate the ceremony:
a - a deck upholstered with galvanized sheet; b - a dead end knife for driving bulk; c - "safe" braid.

The ceremony is considered to be of sufficient quality if a layer of subcutaneous tissue no more than 3 mm thick is preserved on the inside of the skin, the hairline does not have traces of bulk and other impurities, and there are no traces of unskilled removal on the skin (ear cartilage, tail ridges, etc.).

There are several methods of conservation, each of them has its own characteristics and its scope. All skins are preserved in one of the ways - fresh-dry, dry-salted or wet-salted (brine and dry salting). The acid-salt method is also used to preserve furs, rabbit skins, fur coats and fur sheepskins. The choice of one or another preservation method is determined by the type of raw material, as well as specific conditions. In addition to observing the conservation technology, it is necessary to ensure that exactly the method that is suitable for this raw material is used.

Fresh-dry preservation method. This method is the simplest and, despite this, it is preferred. It is used only if for some reason (forced slaughter in unsuitable conditions during transhumance, etc.) normal preservation is impossible. In fact, this method is the drying of the skins without any pre-treatment with preservatives. Due to low efficiency, it is unsuitable for any long-term storage of raw materials; it is not recommended for skins with thick skin tissue.

Drying should be carried out in warm, calm weather - wind combined with low humidity can lead to overdrying of the outer layers of the skin tissue, which shrink into a crust and do not allow moisture to evaporate from the deep layers of the dermis.

Drying is carried out indoors or under a canopy, hanging the straightened skins on smooth poles (not on a rope and not on a wire!) With the skin side out. From time to time, skins should be lowered a little on both sides so that the inflection line does not remain dry. Paws, collars and floors should be protected from twisting, for which they are opened (spread) with wooden planks. Poles with skins hung on them should be located no closer than 20-30 cm from each other.

Sheepskins are allowed to dry and the goat is raised in the open air, in this case they need to be turned over from time to time and not allowed to stay in direct sunlight for a long time. A well-dried hide should have completely dry hairline and dense, non-watery skin.

Such raw materials are stored in piles, sprinkled with naphthalene to protect the hairline from moths (15-20 g of naphthalene crystals for large skins and 3-5 g for small ones). The maximum storage temperature is 30 °C at a relative humidity of not more than 70%. The latter requirement is especially relevant, since dry skin easily absorbs moisture from the air, which can lead to dampness and bacterial decomposition.

Longer storage and protection against moths and skin beetles is ensured by the complex use of chemicals: the rack on which the skins will be laid out is sprinkled with a mixture of naphthalene, sodium silicofluoride and paradichlorobenzene (respectively 2; 0.5 and 2% by weight of the skins). Laying the skins on top of one another, each is sprinkled with this mixture.

Dry-salted preservation method. It differs from fresh drying by pre-salting the skins, but it is still considered not the most reliable: since a relatively small amount of salt is used for dry-salting, complete replacement of moisture with saline does not occur, and the raw materials must be dried to prevent possible decay. At the same time, this method is often used, especially for the conservation of large batches of skins in the summer and in areas with a hot climate, both for reasons of economy and because of the relative simplicity of the method.

The skins are salted, spreading the mezra up, on a special platform - a wooden shield with a rounded profile (Fig. 8). The surface of the platform is preliminarily sprinkled with a centimeter layer of salt, the first skin is laid and sprinkled with salt at the rate of 20% by weight (that is, 200 g of salt per kilogram of the weight of a steam skin). Areas from which the cuts have not been completely removed are additionally rubbed with salt.

Rice. 8. Platform for salting in spreading

A second skin is laid on top of the first one, also with the skin up, covered with salt, etc. The most common mistake with this method of preservation is not pre-selected by size or weight of the skin; non-standard skins with a large area, as a rule, are not weighed, and they have the same amount of salt as was measured for smaller skins. At best, the amount of salt is increased “by eye”, and if the percentage is not respected, the skin of a larger mass may simply not be salted.

If there are enough skins to lay out a full stack (1.5 m high for large skins and 1 m for sheepskins and goat skins), then the skins are laid “in a row”, i.e. each next one is slightly shifted relative to the previous one so that the stack remains vertical . Having finished laying, the stack is sprinkled with salt and kept for at least 3 days for large skins and at least 2 for sheepskins and goatskins.

For salting, table salt is used: grinding No. 3 for large skins with dense leather tissue, grinding No. 2 - for the skins of calves, pigs, etc., and grinding No. 1 - for sheepskins and goatskins. Salt that has already been used twice should not be used, since it contains a high content of salt-loving bacteria. Salted skins are carefully cleaned of salt residues and hung out to dry in the same way as described for the previous preservation method.

Dry-salted raw materials are stored in the same way as raw materials of the fresh-dry method of preservation, the consumption of antiseptics for the preservative mixture is halved. Skins dried during dry-salting or pre-dry canning require careful attention, since leather tissue that has lost its plasticity easily breaks when bent. A high degree of hygroscopicity makes the raw material quite vulnerable - with an increase in air humidity, it begins to soak.

Dry salted canning. This method is also called wet-salting, and there is no mistake here - it is “dry” only in comparison with brine (see below), and it is called “wet-salted” because, unlike the preservation methods described above, this method does not involve drying, and the raw material sufficiently retains the elasticity of the leather tissue (by the way, this greatly simplifies the subsequent processing). Among other advantages of dry salting, it is possible to mention the simplicity of the method and the fact that wet-salted raw materials are not afraid of high humidity during storage.

The lack of drying in the technological process of wet-salting is compensated by an increase in the salt consumption rate to 400 g per kilogram of weight of a fresh skin. For sheepskins, the amount of salt increases to 0.5 kg. Otherwise, salting is carried out, as with dry-salting, with the exception that the skins in the pile are kept longer: pork and other large ones - at least 7 days, sheepskins and goatskins - 4-5 days.

The described method involves the use of chemical antiseptics, which complement the action of salt and ensure reliable preservation of raw materials. The chemicals are thoroughly mixed with salt, and the skins are covered with this mixture. Depending on the type of raw material, it is possible to use one of the above antiseptics (in grams per kilogram of the weight of a pair of skins):

Sheepskins; naphthalene - 10 g per kilogram of pair weight, skins, or paradichlorobenzene - 5 g, or sodium silicofluoride - 12.5 g.
Okoek, outgrowth: naphthalene - 8 g, or soda ash - 10 g, or paradichlorobenzene - 4 g.
Large leather raw materials: naphthalene - 8 g or paradichlorobenzene - 4 g, or sodium fluorosilicon - 10 g, or ammonium fluorosilicone - 6 g.

In order to avoid reddening of the mezra, conservation should be carried out at a temperature not exceeding 20 °C. For a small number of skins, batch salting is allowed (Fig. 9), when individual skins after salting in a stack (2-3 days) are additionally salted and folded into a bag, as shown in the figure.

Rice. 9. Batch salting of a separate skin.

Bending each section, the hairline is sprinkled with a mixture of salt with one of the following chemicals (grams per kilogram of fresh weight): naphthalene - 1 g, or paradichlorobenzene - 0.5 g, or sodium silicofluoride - 1.2 g, or ammonium silicofluoride -1, 2 y.

The skins rolled up in bags can withstand up to 5 days, turning over from time to time for a uniform course of salting. So that the brine does not stagnate in the bags, they are laid on the same platform with their ends to the sides - then the brine will drain without obstacles. Often in the form of packages raw materials are supplied; when purchasing packaged skins, you need to know that their average shelf life from the moment of salting is no more than ten days.

Longer storage of wet-salted raw materials is ensured by laying in stacks; sprinkling with a preservative mixture, the skins are laid with the hairline down so that for every forty-fifty centimeters of height one row of skins hangs over the borders of the stack like aprons. After laying out the next few rows, they are covered with the protruding edges of the skins, bending the last top (the way of farting). As a result of this laying method, the raw material has less contact with air and does not dry out when the temperature rises. In general, wet-salted raw materials do not tolerate either high temperatures (optimal for it - 15-20 ° C), or too dry air (stored at a relative humidity of 70 to 80%).

A low storage temperature is also good because it allows you to notice an increase in temperature inside the stack in time in case of bacterial decomposition processes; to control the temperature, a wooden (not iron!) chute is placed in the stack when it is laid, an ordinary thermometer or an alcohol thermometer is left in it, and the end of the chute protruding outward is plugged with tow or matting. In the case of a steady increase in temperature by 5-6 ° C compared to the temperature in the room, rotting occurring in the stack is ascertained - it is possible that bacterial or simply low-quality salted raw materials got into it during the laying. To save the rest of the skins, the pile is dismantled, the raw materials are dried and additionally sprinkled with a mixture of antiseptics.

brine. Preservation in brine is the most effective way to preserve skins, requiring special containers. It is used for the skins of cattle, horses and pigs, as well as calciner and outgrowth. Provides uniform salting of the entire area of the raw material. Brine picking, like the methods described above, requires accurate weighing of the skins in order to most accurately determine the volume of brine and the amount of chemicals.

Skins should be weighed before washing (a preparatory operation before brine). Washing is carried out on a table with a convex surface: the skin is spread with the hair side up and not hot (up to 20 ° C) is washed with water, driving off excess moisture. To remove dirt, you can use a scraper with rounded teeth. In order to avoid oversaturation of tissues with water, washing should not be delayed longer than 2-3 minutes, after which the skin should be allowed to dry for an hour.

3 liters of a saturated solution of table salt are consumed per kilogram of the mass of a steam skin (recall that a solution is considered saturated when the salt ceases to dissolve - this requires approximately 320-350 g of salt per liter of water). To preserve large and pork skins, one of the following antiseptics is added to the saline solution: sodium fluorosilicon - 2.4 g per kilogram of fresh weight or the same amount of ammonium fluorosilicone (they are dissolved separately and poured into the brine with stirring).

Pork skins are kept in a preservative solution for 15 hours, for the rest, the duration of brine is from 20 hours (for the largest) to 10 (for the smallest).

After brine skins are laid out on a platform for moaning brine; after two or three hours, they are additionally added with a mixture of salt (150 g per kilogram of weight of a pair skin) with one of the antiseptics: naphthalene - 3 g per kilogram of pair weight, or paradichlorobenzene - 1.5 g, or sodium silicofluoride - 3.8 g. or ammonium fluorosilicon - 3.8 g. Then the skins are left in a pile for 2-3 days to complete the conservation process.

Note: fur and small leather raw materials (flask, outgrowth, etc.) are not treated with fluorosilicon chemicals; for salting such raw materials, only naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene can be used - 3 g and 1.5 g, respectively, per kilogram of weight of a pair skin.

The room in which the finished raw materials are stored must have drainage grooves or a cement screed along the floor with a slope to the drain hole so that the brine flowing from the skins is drained away from the stack by gravity. In hot weather, in order to avoid overdrying of the skins, buckets of water are placed next to the pile or covered with burlap soaked in saline.

Acid-salt canning. This method is the most preferred for fur coats, because it provides the best preservation of the connection between the hairline and the skin tissue and makes the raw material less susceptible to increasing air humidity.

Furs or rabbit skins, provided that they are not going to be dressed immediately, after skinning are dried for 30-40 minutes and a swab (soft brush) is applied to the skin side of the leather tissue with a solution of salt with alum powder in a ratio of 1: 1. The composition follows rub evenly over the entire surface of the bakhtarma; it is more convenient to do this without removing the skin from the ruler or molding blank on which the skinning was carried out (Fig. 6). On the rules, the skins are dried.

Larger raw materials, such as fur or fur sheepskins, are treated with a mixture of a slightly more complex composition: table salt, grinding No. 2, ammonium chloride and aluminum alum (respectively - 85; 7.5 and 7.5%). The mixture is thoroughly mixed and rubbed into the mezdrya side of the skin spread on the working table, then the skins are stacked (see “Preservation with dry salting spread”), evenly filling each with the same composition that was used for processing. In a pile, the skins are kept for at least a week.

Store raw materials in a cool room with limited access to direct sunlight. The skins removed with a "stocking" after drying are turned out with fur and stored in a hung state. Skins removed from the cavity are sprinkled with naphthalene and stacked in pairs - hair to hair.

The hairline of raw materials that have been stored for a long time must be periodically examined for ovaries formed by moths. Having found a bundle of stuck together fur in the form of a thin braid, it is necessary to carefully examine all the rest of the raw materials, and comb the detected ovaries until the damaged hair is completely removed.

Dressing skins is one of the first types of crafts mastered by man. This skill is very useful for modern people. Hunters are happy to keep the skins of killed trophies. People purposefully engage in the cultivation and slaughter of fur-bearing animals for the sake of obtaining skin and fur. In agriculture, mass dressing of animal skin is carried out. Knowledge and practice of dressing skins at home will allow you to obtain high-quality raw materials for further processing - sewing clothes, bags and hats, making accessories and shoes, forming stuffed animals and dummies, creating decorative elements.

Primary processing of skins

The choice of dressing technology depends on the type, lifestyle and physiological state of the animal, the type and quality of fur, age, gender and many other factors. Incorrect primary processing reduces the quality of leather and fur raw materials and reduces its shelf life.

Mature fur is lush and shiny, with a dense, uniform undercoat. The hair should be elastic and even, with a well-developed awn, not fall out.

Before the dressing of fur begins, you should carefully examine the hairline of the animal. Dirt and blood are washed off with a rag or gauze soaked in warm water and laundry soap. Entangled and matted areas of fur are usually combed with a special brush. The skin must be removed carefully, avoiding cuts and tears. It is desirable to keep the head, paws and tail.

Stages of dressing skins and furs

The removed skin is degreased and dried. Defatting is the process of removing all subcutaneous fat. It is carried out manually with the help of special tools on the frozen fat layer. Raw skins are corrected, giving them the correct shape and symmetry, and then dried under certain conditions - high humidity and temperature, good air exchange.

In order not to stain the fur and hands with fat, experts recommend sprinkling the workplace and skins with small sawdust.

Dressing skins at home consists of nine mandatory steps:

Soaking. Initially, the skins are soaked for a day in a concentrated saline solution. For 1 liter of water at room temperature, you need 4 tablespoons of salt without a slide. After soaking, they are turned inside out and squeezed out.
Mezdrenie. The skinning machine will help you quickly and efficiently remove the skin. The mezdra is the subcutaneous fat layer of animals, it is removed with a blunt knife with a wide blade in the direction from the tail to the head.
Secondary degreasing. At this stage, the skin is washed in a foamy solution of laundry soap. The temperature of the liquid must not exceed 25°. You can soak the skins in a soap solution for 20-30 minutes. Then they are thoroughly rinsed in clean cold water, squeezed out and turned inside out with fur.
Pickling or pickling. The dressing solution is prepared from 2 tablespoons of vinegar essence, 4 tablespoons of salt without a slide and 1 liter of water. The temperature of the solution is within 18-23°. The skins, turned inside out, are immersed in the liquid and left for several hours, stirring occasionally. For thin skins, the exposure time is 6 hours, for skins of medium thickness - 8-10 hours, thick skins are soaked in a pickle for more than 12 hours.
Exposure under pressure. During pickling, organic fat and collagen fibers are destroyed in the skin tissues. After pickling, the skins are squeezed by hand, folded 2 or 3 times and placed under oppression. Thin skins are kept under oppression for 3-4 hours, skins of medium thickness - about 5 hours, thick ones - 6-8 hours.
Drying. The skins are dried at room temperature away from heat sources, while the fur should be directed inward.
For drying, special devices are used - rules. You can stretch the skin on a sheet of plywood. Periodically, while the skin remains wet, it is removed from the stretch and wrinkled by hand.
Tanning. Tannins restore the structure of collagen fibers. After the procedure, the skin becomes softer and more elastic, does not tear or crumble. As a tanning agent, you can use a thick infusion of oak or willow bark (half a liter of crushed dry bark is taken for 1 liter of water). The bark is poured into water, brought to a boil and boiled for 10-15 minutes, then insisted for one day. The infusion is filtered through gauze and applied with a brush to the mezra. The skin is then dried and crushed.
Zhirovka. For fattening at home, a special fat emulsion is prepared. In 300 ml of warm water, it is necessary to dissolve 50 grams of soap, 50 grams of fish oil, 10 drops of ammonia, cool the solution and add another 500 ml of water to it. All components are thoroughly mixed and carefully, so as not to get on the fur, are applied to the skin with a brush from the side of the mezra. The treated skins are dried at room temperature.
Finishing processing. Finally, the skins are crushed with a pumice stone or fine-grained sandpaper, passing it along the mezra in the direction from head to tail. If necessary, the skin is stretched and shaken. Now she is ready for further work - cutting, gluing or sewing.

Popular leather dressing recipes

The fermentation procedure is considered a classic version of skin dressing, after which the material becomes durable and elastic. Alum for dressing skins is prepared according to different recipes, using ingredients of natural and artificial origin - flour, malt, rock salt, soda, acids, fermented milk products. Acid pickling is an alternative to traditional fermentation. Acetic acid, salt, and water are commonly used to make pickel. Instead of vinegar, sulfuric or boric acid can be used.

It is necessary to engage in dressing with a fresh skin. If work needs to be postponed, then the skin can be salted by rubbing it with plenty of salt, frozen or dried.

Recipe for dressing skins at home:

Dressing leather and fur is a complex, lengthy and laborious procedure. To achieve mastery in leather and fur business is possible only by working and learning. As a result of many years of experience, light, soft and elastic skins are obtained, which look great, are pleasant to the touch and have a long service life.

An easy way to dress skins - video

Equipment for dressing skins at home - video

Dressing skins can be done both at home (if the characteristic smell does not bother anyone), or put this process on the conveyor by renting workshops and hiring workers. This activity does not require special skills, it is easy to learn. However, when starting a business, you should be aware of the list of animals that can only be dressed by enterprises that have the right to do so, in accordance with applicable law.

Non-certified dressing of squirrel, beaver, otter, ermine, column, marten, fox, mink, muskrat, arctic fox, wolverine, lynx and sable skins is prohibited.

It is worth starting with the processing of rabbit fur - it is the most affordable, the least demanding on the skill of processing and, of course, it has the lowest purchase price. Rabbit products are always in demand in the market. And if the startup will bring profit and pleasure, in the future you can also establish a farm for growing these animals, having received a closed production cycle. In addition to rabbits, you can also do the dressing of sheep and goat skins. According to businessmen, one skin brings in income from 20 to 50 dollars, depending on the type of fur / wool.

The process of processing skins, which we will describe below, consists of three main stages: preparatory operations, actual dressing and finishing.

Preparing the skin for dressing

The preparatory stage consists of soaking, skinning, washing and degreasing the skin and fur. For soaking, you need to prepare a saline solution at the rate of 30-40 grams of table salt per liter of water at room temperature. Be sure to add an antiseptic that inhibits the development of microorganisms and prevents possible rotting of the skin, such as crystalline carbolic acid (phenol) or zinc chloride. The latter also helps to anchor the hair in the skin and is especially useful when working with already spoiled skins. Lower the skins into the prepared solution using a press. Soaking can last from several hours to three or four days, depending on the thickness of the skin and the duration of storage of canned skins.

It is important to stir the skins often, every two to three hours, so that they soak evenly. After 12 hours, you can change the solution. This will speed up the process.

The skin is ready to move on to the next stage if:

the skin has become uniform, soft and easy to stretch;
hair is held firmly, does not fall out.

After that, the skins are squeezed and hung out to drain the remaining water. Do not overtighten them when pushing up, otherwise streaks may remain.

The next preparatory stage - mezdrovka - is applied only to dry skins. Carefully inspect the product for the presence of remnants of subcutaneous muscle and fat. They must be cleaned off, and the entire surface of the mezra should be slightly scraped with a knife in the direction of the hair roots.

Washing and degreasing is the last preparatory stage. The remaining fat, which is not visible at first glance, will prevent further processing of the skins. In order to get rid of it, you should prepare a degreasing solution. Its composition is simple: seven to eight grams of washing (soda ash) per liter of water (or a third of a glass of soda per bucket of water). The solution is prepared warm, human body temperature. The skins in the solution should float freely. When the ox acquires a yellowish tint, it should be changed. After two or three hours, the mezdra of the skins (inner part) should turn white and its fat content will no longer be felt. Check - the skin should "creak" under the fingers. The skins are dried, the wool is shaken off the water, and the mezra is wiped with a dry cloth.

If the skins are overexposed in a degreasing solution, they may lose elasticity and strength, fibers will become visible.

Dressing skins: a description of the main techniques

Dressing of skins, which can be carried out by two main technologies: pickling and pickling (fermenting). At home, both methods of dressing skins are used, while on an industrial scale only pickling is used.

Pickling involves the processing of skins with the help of pickels - medium-strong water salt solutions with acids: inorganic (sulphuric, hydrochloric) or organic (formic, acetic, tartaric, lactic). Sulfuric and hydrochloric acids have a much more active effect on the material. The skins treated with them do not retain their good qualities for long. Over time, their strength is lost. When exposed to inorganic acids, the color and structure of the skin can also change, the natural shine and beauty of the fur disappear. In order to prevent the loss of the marketable appearance of the skin, after the pickling process, it is necessary to neutralize the acid.

Organic acids tend to have a softer and more gentle effect on the skins. The most accessible and common acid among them is acetic acid. The skin processed by it turns out elastic and remains long time.

Ingredients for vinegar pickle: 15-35 milliliters of concentrated acetic acid and 40-50 grams of table salt per liter of water. If it is impossible to get concentrated acid, then 20-50 milliliters of food acid (acetic essence) of 70% concentration are taken per liter of water.

Pikel can be made from sour house wine. It is diluted with water in proportions of one to three, then salt is added (40-50 grams per liter). Only white wines are suitable, as red ones tint the flesh, and most importantly, the wool.

The whole process of processing the skin is carried out in enameled, plastic or wooden utensils, which are not subject to oxidation. The pickel, in which the washed and defatted skins are immersed, should be at room temperature. For one kilogram of skins, you need to take three liters of solution (preferably four to seven liters), so that the skins float freely in the solution.

The duration of the procedure is from five hours to four days, depending on the thickness and density of the skin tissue. For hare skins, for gophers and other animals with thin, loose skin, five to ten hours are enough. The skins of ferrets, raccoon dogs, jackals, fur-bearing animals with medium skin thickness, as well as roe deer and young deer require a longer time - from 12 to 30 hours. For thick skins of a wolf, a bear, an elk, a wild boar, the residence time in a pickle is up to four days. It is important to constantly stir the skins so that the pickle soaks them evenly.

To understand whether the skin is ready, you need to fold a small corner four times, pressing hard with your fingers, and then straighten it. If there are characteristic white seams - it's time to get the goods. Slightly squeezing the skin, leave it for 10-12 hours for aging at room temperature. After that, the skin can be considered finished.

The second method of dressing skins - fermentation - involves the use of fermented bread-type sourdough. The latter can be prepared from oatmeal, barley, wheat, wholemeal rye flour and bran. This method is more gentle and suitable for home use. Fermentation is, in fact, the processing of skins with sour dough. There are two processing methods: dipping and spreading.

In dipping fermentation, batter is kneaded at the rate of 150-200 grams of flour per liter of hot water. Add table salt - a full tablespoon per liter of dough. To speed up the fermentation process, add some yeast. Dip the skins into the room temperature solution so that they float freely. Then the dishes should be closed with a lid and left to “roam” the skins, stirring them constantly (every two to three hours).

After a day of fermentation, the skins should be checked for readiness. The readiness of the skin is judged by the same signs as during pickling. There is another way to check: you need to remove the edge of the skin from the kvass and try to separate a thin layer of skin from the side of the hair with your fingernail. If the peeling of the epidermis film from the main layer of the skin is noticeable, then the skin is ready. It needs to be wrung out and hung out to dry.

The disadvantage of dipping staining is manifested in the difficulty of subsequent cleaning of the skins from the dough. To avoid it - use the method of spread fermentation.

In the process of kneading, a large amount of flour and sour cream are added to the dough with salt and yeast. The dough is left in a warm place until fermentation begins. Then the resulting mixture is spread on the mezdra (the lower layer of the skin, subcutaneous tissue) with a layer of 0.5-1 centimeter. The skins are folded skin to skin, covered and left to ferment. In order for the layers of the mixture to evenly cover the skin, use a wooden spatula.

To achieve the best result, the dough can be changed once a day, removing the old one and applying a new one with the same spatula. The readiness of the skin, as in previous cases, is indicated by the characteristic “drying” and peeling of the epidermis.

Remember: the softer the water used to prepare the solutions, the better the dressing. When using hard water, it is recommended to soften it by adding technical ammonia in the amount of one tablespoon per 10 liters of water.

The last stage is leather and fur finishing

Finishing hides is used to remove sticky fibers that form during the drying process. In the process of finishing, the skins are crumpled and stretched by hand, the flesh is loosened on a staple, scythe, and center slingshot. To do this, use all kinds of tables and stretching systems. The finishing of the hairline consists in brushing and combing it so that the fur becomes lush and shiny.

And remember, if a hole is accidentally formed on the product, it must be sewn up during the drying process, until the skin is completely dry. The seam should lie parallel to the line of the ridge. The round hole is slightly elongated and made spindle-shaped, this darning method will not wrinkle.

If you decide to start dressing skins on an industrial scale, you cannot do without the following machines:

Chipping machine designed for preliminary cutting of the hairline.
Drums retractable for hauling and otminka skins.
Apparatus for softening skins.
Carding machine.
Shearing machine for cutting the hairline of skins.
Centrifuge for pressing skins.

To acquire the required skills, you can use

Skinning at home

It is a sin to throw away the skin taken from the carcass of a killed animal, whether it be a trophy of a successful hunt, a domestic goat, a sheep or a nutria. Get to know a cheap and simple method of skinning, which, in my opinion, is accessible to everyone. I use it for dressing the skins of sheep, deer, woodchucks, rabbits and goats. But the method is suitable for dressing the skins of all mammals, especially if you want to keep the fur. After such dressing, the skin becomes soft and easy to work with, for example, for making things that require cutting and sewing.

Sprinkle salt on raw skins

The raw skin, just removed from the carcass, must be cooled, after removing the remnants of meat and fat from its inside. For cooling, the skin is spread in the shade on an absolutely flat surface, for example, on a concrete or stone floor, with the wool down.

When you feel to the touch that the skin has cooled down, immediately pour edible non-iodized salt onto its inner side (mezdra). For the processing of sheep or deer skins, you will need from 1.5 to 2.5 kg of salt. If the skins are not salted immediately after skinning the carcasses, they will be lost. The decomposition process will begin, and during further processing, the skins will lose their fur.

The skin should lie on a flat surface, its edges should not twist. When dragging the skin, do not stretch it. If part of the salt crumbles from the surface of the mezra, add it without sparing. Salt should absorb moisture so that the skin is completely dry and crispy. The process can take anywhere from a few days to a couple of weeks. A completely dried skin retains both its shape and quality well.

What is required for skinning?
If you are ready to start dressing skins, prepare everything you need for this in advance:

26.5 liters of water, 1 kg (16 cups) flaked bran, 16 cups of common non-iodized salt, 2 large plastic vats with a capacity of 114 liters and 1 lid, 1 wooden stick, 1.2 m long, for stirring the solution and turning the skins, 3.5 cups of acid for car batteries, 2 packs of baking soda, wooden grate or mat for stretching skins, hoof oil, nails, metal brush.

The indicated quantities are calculated for dressing four skins of large animals, or 10 rabbit skins, or 6 skins of medium-sized animals, for example, marmots. For dressing fewer skins, adjust the indicated numbers.

Skin dressing solution

A few hours before you plan to start dressing, dry skins should be immersed in fresh, clear water and soaked until they become elastic.

Boil 11.5 liters of water and pour it over the bran. After an hour, when the flakes are well steamed, throw them on a sieve to express the brownish infusion. Bring the remaining 15 liters of water to a boil. Pour 16 cups of salt into a plastic vat, cover with boiling water and stir well with a wooden stick until the salt is completely dissolved. Pour brownish infusion of bran into salt water and stir the resulting liquid.

When the liquid cools and becomes slightly warm, add car battery acid to it. Observe the precautions on the acid vial label when doing this. Wear old gloves and a long-sleeved shirt when handling acid. Pour the acid carefully, holding the vial just above the surface of the solution and avoid splashing. Stir the resulting mixture well.

Now you can start cleaning the dry mezdra. When dressing fresh skins, this procedure can be omitted. Immerse the skins in the solution and stir. The skins must be completely covered with liquid in order to be well saturated with it. In the solution, the skins must be kept for about 40 minutes, periodically stirring them with a stick for uniform soaking.

Fill the second plastic tub with clean warm water and proceed to wash the skins. Remove all the skins from the solution one by one using a wooden stick and place them in a container of clean water - you need to wash off the excess salt from the skins. In order for the skins to be washed better, they need to be stirred and patted with a stick for 5 minutes, and when the water becomes dirty, change it to clean.

Some people add baking soda to the rinse water to neutralize acid residue in the skin. This allows you to insure people with sensitive skin from possible irritation. But on the other hand, this neutralizes the acid that was used specifically to preserve the skin. Therefore, before pouring soda into a vat for washing dressed skins, decide for what purpose you will use them. If it is assumed that the skin or fur will come into contact with human skin, then you need to rinse it in water with soda. And if the skin is thrown on the floor like a carpet, or hung on the wall, then in my opinion, you can not add soda when rinsing.

Washed skins should be hung on a stable and strong crossbar so that water can drain from them. Then soak a sponge, rag or brush with the foot oil and apply the oil to the still wet skin. To do this, you will need 30 g of hoof oil. It is very quickly absorbed into the mezdra, leaving only a slight oily coating.

Now the skin needs to be pulled over a wooden grate or flooring. When nailing the skin to the deck, gently stretch it out so that the skin is taut, but not too tight. Transfer the flooring with the skin stretched to the shade to dry.

Do not pour out the acidic solution left after dressing the skins without neutralization. To neutralize the acid, two packs of soda are enough. During the reaction, the solution will begin to foam strongly and release toxic gas. Therefore, it is better to do it in a room with good ventilation and stand away from the vat. Do not pour the solution near the drain.

Skins during the drying period should be checked daily. When the core in the center feels dry, elastic and soft, remove the skin from the flooring, spread it with the fur down and go over the core with a metal brush. Thanks to this procedure, the skin becomes softer and lighter. Do not brush too hard or rub in any one area of the skin. Just try to make the inside look like suede. After that, the skin needs to be hung for a couple of days for the final drying.

Last tip

As soon as your friends find out that you can make skins, be prepared for the fact that you will not end up with those who want to use your abilities. If you can't deny your friends this service, then at least don't do it for free. Industrial skinning costs between $25 and $45 a piece, and your service should be adequate even if the money you get is only enough for a case of beer. Otherwise, the hunters will drag you all their trophies, overwhelm you with work and deprive you of the opportunity to do other things.

It is possible that someone will use the services of professionals to find out what mistakes you made, or how much your service may result in. People value their skins very much, and this warning will help you avoid misunderstandings and maintain good relations with friends.

Skinning at home

Sprinkle salt on raw skins

What is required for skinning

If you are ready to start dressing skins, prepare everything you need for this in advance:

26.5 liters of water,

1 kg (16 cups) bran flakes

16 cups regular non-iodized salt

2 large plastic tubs with a capacity of 114 liters and 1 lid,

1 wooden stick 1.2 m long for stirring the solution and turning the skins,

3.5 cups of car battery acid

2 packs of baking soda

Wooden lattice or flooring for stretching skins,

hoof oil,

Metal brush.

Skin dressing solution

A few hours before you plan to start dressing, dry skins should be immersed in fresh, clear water and soaked until they become elastic.

Last tip

There are many ways to make skins. I will try to state the most accessible and proven. The process of dressing skins takes place according to the following scheme: soaking - washing - skinning and degreasing - pickling or pickling - tanning - drying - finishing.

Before dressing, inspect the skin, if the skin is contaminated with resin, remove it (resin, of course) with alcohol.

Soak off- the process of soaking skins treated with a fresh-dry method. Produced in a solution of table salt, the concentration is grams per liter of water. The amount of solution should be such that there is a 2-3 cm layer of water above the skin. In order for microbes not to develop in the solution, an antiseptic is added - zinc chloride (2 g / l), formalin (0.5 - 1 ml / l) , 1 - 2 tablets of furatsilina. When soaking, you can add a little washing powder to the solution. If the skin does not get wet within 12 hours, the solution must be changed. Soak until the nose and paws soften.

the washing up. Wash the skin in a warm (not hot) solution of laundry detergent. Some recipes recommend washing "to the squeak of the hair." When washing, it is necessary to rinse the skin from sand, wash off the smell of dog from the fur. This is especially important for the fox and raccoon. When washing, the skin is partially degreased, so washing can be done after skinning / degreasing. After washing, the skin is squeezed out, the mezra is wiped with a dry cloth.

Mezdrenie- the skin is scraped with a blunt knife in the direction from the tail to the head, pulling it over the board. It is good to make a special convex board from hardwood slab. The purpose of skinning is to remove the remnants of fat, film, cut meat. If the initial processing was done well, then the skinning will be easier, so do not be lazy to process your trophy well. But do not get carried away so as not to expose the roots of the hair.

fermentation- this is a classic way of dressing skins, providing a higher quality of dressing, greater durability of the skin. And the disadvantages are the duration of processing, an unpleasant odor. The recipe is as follows: 200 g of wholemeal oatmeal or rye flour is stirred into 1 liter. hot water, add salt and 7 g of yeast, 0.5 g of soda. When the solution has cooled, the skin is immersed in it. The duration of fermentation is 2 days. The solution must be periodically mixed so that a film does not form on top and the solution does not rot.

Pickling(treatment with acids) is used instead of fermentation. Pickel composition (per 1 liter of solution): 60 ml of 70% acetic acid, 30 g of salt. You will get a strong pickel (4.2%). A stronger pickle breaks down the skin, so it's best to use a 3% pickle - 43 ml of 70% vinegar essence per liter of water. Salt is required. You can use sulfuric acid (2.5 - 5 g / l), but mineral acids reduce the strength of the product, I do not recommend this method. Pickling lasts from several hours to two days, depending on the thickness of the skin, the quality of the degreasing, etc., and it is better to underexpose than to overexpose the skin in the pickel. The end of pickling is determined by a test for "drying" and "pinch". The test for "drying" is done as follows: the skin is removed from the solution, near the groin it is bent four times with the skin up, the corner is tightly squeezed and a fingernail is drawn along the fold. If the skin is ripe, a white stripe will remain on the fold for some time - "dry". The "pinch" test is simpler: hairs are plucked in the groin area, if this is done easily, the skin is ready. Another sign of the ripeness of the skin is that it is easy, with your fingers, to separate the inner layer of the skin. After the end of pickling, the skin is slightly squeezed, folded in half with the fur up and placed under a small load. The stretch lasts hours. Since acid remains on the skin, the skin is placed in a solution of baking soda 1-1.5 g / l for 20 minutes. I do not do this.

After pickling, the skin is dried on a straightener. First, dry with the skin up, then with the fur up. Remove excess solution with a rag, straighten the fur when drying, shaking the skin. Finally dry the skin up, but if you dry it out and you can’t turn the skin inside out, don’t break it, leave it like that, you will still wet the skin anyway. And you may not dry out.

Tanning- performed in a solution of chromic alum (potassium alum can only be used in a mixture with chromic alum), 2 - 3% carbolic acid, or in a decoction of oak or willow bark. I use a decoction of willow bark, since alum must be obtained, phenol (carbolic acid) smells unpleasant and is harmful, oak roughens the skins too much, and willow is always at hand and stains the skin in a pleasant cream color. Strip the bark from willow trees that have fluffy leaves. Fit and windy. Fill the saucepan with bark (tightly, but not ramming). Fill with water and boil for half an hour, then drain the solution, add salt to 1 liter, cool. Since the solution also stains the fur, I do not soak the skin in it, but soak the mezra, repeatedly applying the solution with a brush. The skin should be saturated with tanning agent. After that, the skin is folded inside and left for a day to lie down. The skin is then dried. This is where you need to work. The skin will have to dry almost "by hand". As it dries, the skin is removed from the straightening, crumpled, stretched in different directions. It is necessary to catch the moment when the skin is semi-dry, it will turn white when stretched and become "suede" to the touch. Paws and muzzle stretch across. After drying, the core can be carefully processed with sandpaper. Now the skin is soft.

To increase its water resistance and softness, grease is performed. You can soak the skin with a mixture of glycerin and egg yolk 1: 1, or with this solution: dissolve 50 g of soap in 0.5 liters of boiling water and add 0.5 kg of fat (pork, fish, etc.), add 10 g of ammonia alcohol. You can replace part of the fat with glycerin, part with yolk, a small part with machine oil (up to 5%). The mixture is smeared with the mezra and allowed to mature for several hours. Then the skin is dried, kneaded, the fur is combed, the mezra can be rubbed with chalk, it will absorb excess fat and the mezra will be light. Thick places can be rubbed with sandpaper, just don't get carried away! This is where the torment ends, the skin is ready.

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