Tanning Leather with Animal Brains Question

[Indiana Texas-girl]

Okay guys...while reading the Whip Enthusiast Newsgroup, I saw someone posted something about using animal brains to tan hides. I felt kinda funny asking my question there because it's kinda unfamiliar territory for me and I don't have much time to spend there anyway and may miss a response. Does this mean that if we get natural hide color, it hasn't had animal brains spread all over the skin and the darker color hides have had the smearing of brains? Just curious.

[Sergei]

ITG,
I read that thread as well. The animal brains tanning process is just one form of process that was practiced a long time ago. Our Indians in this continent did it as well as the Aboriginals in Australia. It was just an early form of tanning that is rarely practiced today except in certain circles. The other ancient method was bark tanning. The tanning process chief function is to preserve the leather.

The hides that we get for our jackets and whips where tanned in more modern methods. What you read at WE are some of the backwoods guys that kill their own animal (It was deer in this case) and wanted an explanation of how to use brains for tanning.

I hope this helps.

-S

[Indiana Texas-girl]

THat's a relief that it's a rare method used nowadays. I have a natural color roo hide whip. Is it tanned or untanned? I know tanning refers to the treatment of the leather and maybe even the darkening of color as a result. Because of its lightness in color, I am wondering if it's a tanned leather.

[Sergei]

Well it's tanned but not dyed. It's tanned to preserve the hide and the color is left in it's natural state.

[Indiana Texas-girl]

Ah-ha! Thanks, Serg-meister!

[Sergei]

Your Welcome, ITG. But just to be clear, the tanning process converts raw hide into leather. If the hide is not tanned it will putrify. The tanning process preserves that piece of hide. Some tanning processes, like that from a dark bark of a tree will change it to a darker brown. That's is called bark tanned (or veg).

But don't confuse tanning and dyeing. The dyeing process is separate. And that process is to change the leather color.

-S

[Fedora]

To add a point. Rawhide, like its name denotes, is untanned leather. It is just dried out after the hair is removed and the tissue scraped off. It has a natural tendency to shrink greatly when wetted and was used in the past to secure arrowheads to the shaft, among other things. Quite handy in a primitive culture, but it didn't last like tanned hide. Over time, it breaks down. Fedora