In about 1975 I found and used a recipe for tanning rabbit hides in Countryside. I also used it for a deer hide at the time. It was easy and involved soaking the hides for a time in some kind of preparation that did not burn your hands and the hair didn't come off the hide. It worked very well. I want to do it again but have lost the recipe. Can anyone help?

-- Cindy Mullins (raym@naxs.com), November 16, 1999

Answers

Would someone look in Jd's Homesteader's Guide to Small Stock, and post the salt-acid tanning recipe? I think this is the one Cindy is looking for, and I was stoo-pid a-gain- I loaned the book. The alum recipe is also good, if you have a source for quantities of alum.

-- Kendy Sawyer (sweetfire@grove.net), November 17, 1999.

Reply to Kendy - Thank you! That was the recipe I used and to beat it all - I have the book "Raising Small Livestock"! When you mentioned it it rang a bell in my apparently very forgetful brain and I just found it, dusty and unread for many years, on one of my book shelves! I never would have looked for it there if you had not written. Thanks a lot.

-- Cindy Mullins (raym@naxs.com), November 17, 1999.

Cindy: you might want to look into brain tanning. It is the oldest method for tanning hides. After scraping or slipping the hair off use a brain and water solution on the hide and brake the fibers until finished. This method is cheap, works great, and is non toxic. If you are interested I have a friend who is realy good and she could answer any questions on-line.

-- Lawson Moore (marmerduke@aol.com), November 18, 1999.

I am very interested in this procedure with the rabbit's brain/solution. Please kindly ask her to post this info. as others would probably like to have it also. Tks

-- Eve (gen3eve@aol.com), November 18, 1999.