# curing and tanning a cow hide



## farmgirl6 (May 20, 2011)

I bought our first half of grass fed and she just went to freezer camp, the wonderful lady who sold me the cow was kind enough to bring back the hide on one of the cows (she had two go) for me at my request as I want to try my hand at curing leather; I go pick it up from her tomorrow, she has had it in her freezer (again, really nice lady have been doing alot of research online but still a little confused, I want to take off the hair, so if I understand correctly you "cure" and then "tan"? have read some widely varying things; is this right? soaking 24 hours in tub with water and small amount of bleach to kill any bacteria. then wash well, put in tub with slake lime mixture to remove hair, then neutr with vinegar and water, then rinse again, then soak in brine, then work? where does the brain or dog poop or what ever else you use come in? or bark? so confused...


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

Tanning a cow hide by hand is work.

The first thing I do is string the hide up on a large rectangular frame, similar to pictures you may have seen of the Native Americans tanning a buffalo or similar hide.

Scraping the fat and flesh off is easy enough while the hide is fresh, and not too bad after the hide is stretched and drier.....it all just scrapes off _different_ when dry.
I make a spoon-shaped scraper by grinding the end of a large, worn out blacksmith/shop file to a rounded edge, egg-shaped on the back and hollow ground on the front. Stays sharp forever, being high carbon steel to begin with.
Scraping the hair off is also doable when the hide dries, while so stretched. 
I find that taking long strokes with the scraper removes a quarter to three-eighths wide strip of hair each pass, and leaves the epidermis more suede than shiny, if you can envision..... Depending on the intended final use, you may want to really rough up the skin on the hair side to make the finished product softer, or you may want to leave that epidermis intact for a stiffer tan, such as for harness, holster or similar use.

After all scraping is done, hair removed and the hide clean, vigorously rub in the animal's brain, mixed with enough warm water to make it soak in well and cover the hide, then fold the hide on itself and roll it up tight, letting it cure in a cool place for about 24 hours. Then the work begins....... that hide, for a soft brain tan (the only kind of tan that I've used on larger hides) needs to be vigorously worked, stretched....the Natives even chewed the edges to soften and break up the fibers while the hide was drying...... pulled, twisted and worked some more. Some use a tightly drawn heavy coarse rope to work the hide over. I prefer a stiff beam or pole, sharpened somewhat to an edge that the hide can be pulled tightly double over, to really break up the fibers and make for a soft tan.
After the hide is dry, by which time you will be nearly dead from exhaustion....... the Natives smoked a brain tanned hide, by forming it into a cone shape and suspending it over a smudge fire, to waterproof it, thus preventing the need to work the hide again in the event it ever got wet.

I recommend the book, "Deerskins to Buckskins" for an in depth look at the brain tan, which process can also include homemade wood ash lye to expedite portions of the tanning process and make for a softer finish.

There are other ways to tan large hides for a stiffer finish, battery acid and tannin being two of them, but the brain tan makes for the softest finished product for clothing.


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## Marshloft (Mar 24, 2008)

I could use a pair of moccasins for my tender feet. Arn't you supposed to chew on the hide to make it soft?


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## rockhound (Sep 25, 2009)

Farmgirl, I don't think you're ready yet to do a cowhide. Start with something smaller, maybe a roadkill or deer from a hunter friend/relative. Is it possible to keep the cowhide frozen for now? If not you can scrape and dry it, tan it later.


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## kasilofhome (Feb 10, 2005)

Check out the Survial --vault --"gramacabin" --she is quite the tanner.


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## farmgirl6 (May 20, 2011)

Marshloft said:


> I could use a pair of moccasins for my tender feet. Arn't you supposed to chew on the hide to make it soft?



Yeah I heard that too a lot of chewing!


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## farmgirl6 (May 20, 2011)

rockhound said:


> Farmgirl, I don't think you're ready yet to do a cowhide. Start with something smaller, maybe a roadkill or deer from a hunter friend/relative. Is it possible to keep the cowhide frozen for now? If not you can scrape and dry it, tan it later.


You are probably right but I don't have room to refreeze the entire thing tho I could cut it up - well if I hose it up nothing lost but time and effort so do I scrape first or soak in the lyme and ash first to loosen the hair and scrape all at the same time?


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## fatrat (Feb 21, 2009)

Dog poop? I've never heard of that being used. I've done buckskin using brains and it works well. I think I would leave out the dog poop though.

I used a mixture of ashes and water to remove the hair. There is a lot of hand scraping done to remove the hair. It won't just fall out no matter what you do. IT IS HARD, DIRTY WORK but if done properly can make a leather just as soft as velvet.

**I would forget about using vinegar, brine, slaked lime, bleach, bark. DOG POOP.**

As suggested by another person I would first do a deer hide as a cow hide is very large and you are going to find out this is more work than what you might expect.

This is what I do for deer hides. It's a lot of work but quite simple.

scrap all fat and flesh off the hide well. put the hide in a solution of wood ashes and water and let it sit for about 24 hours. Use lots of ashes. The lye from the ashes is what will loosen the hair. After it sits in the ashes and water for about 24 hours rinse out all the ashes and lye. The lye will clean the hide real well and will rinse out well. There is no need to try and neutralize it with anything. This has been done this way for thousands of years very successfully. Just rinse it out real well. I suppose you could use some dish soap if you want but it's not really necessary.

Now scrap the hair out. You can do that with a hunting knife or fleshing knife or whatever kind of scrapper you want BUT IT IS WORK. HERE IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING AND IF YOU DON'T DO THIS THE HIDE WILL NOT BE SOFT. When you are scraping out the hair you also scrap off the epidermal layer of skin with it. Most people don't mention that part as the epidermal layer usually comes off naturally when they are scrapping the hair out but if you just pull the hair out the epidermal layer will be left on and the hide will dry hard. You will see this skin come off with the hair. You must remove the epidermal layer with the hair. The lye will help remove this layer of skin. When you later start working the hide to keep it soft it will tend dry hard as a board if you don't remove the epidermal layer. This little detail makes doing furs a lot more work since you don't remove it in doing a fur skin. You can scrap it on a fleshing beam or laced into a rack. If you are scrapping it laced into a rack you will probably need some teeth on the scrapper. The stone scrappers used by many Indian tribes would have had a sort of jagged edge which would do well. If it is a steel scrapper some teeth cut into the scrapper help. If you are using a fleshing beam and fleshing knife teeth are not needed. However when you do it you just have to be sure to remove that layer of skin when scrapping out the hair. After scraping out the hair and the epidermal skin rinse it off well and let the hide drip dry just a little so the brains will easily soak into the hide. You don't want the hide to dry out any you just want to get a lot of the excess water off so the brains can easily soak into it.

Now take some brains and smash them up real well and rub them into the hide, both side if possible. You want the hide to be completely covered and the brains to soak in. Now roll the hide up, put it in a plastic bag so it doesn't dry out and let it soak in the brains for about 24 hours, more is okay so don't be in to much of a hurry. However if it is real warm out it can get to smelling quite ripe. If that is the case less time would be okay. There is no need for the brains to really rot and stink the place up but you do want them to soak in good and 24 hours will do it and not be stinking the place up. If it does get stinky that's okay it will wash out and the hide will dry out smelling actually kind of sweet. Yes I know by experience.

Now after the hide has soaked in the brains take it out and rinse and wash it all well. You can use some dish soap if you want but you don't have to.

Now you want to stretch, work, scrap with a dull scrapper, etc... the hide while it dries. This is very important as doing this will make the hide nice and soft. THIS IS A LOT OF WORK AND IF YOU HAVE NOT SCRAPPED OFF THE EPIDERMAL LAYER WHEN REMOVING THE HAIR IT WILL TEND TO DRY HARD AS A BOARD. You have to keep working the hide all the time it is drying. It can take hours depending on the humidity and it is a lot of work.

When the hide is dry it will be soft as velvet. Now you take it and smoke it over a smoky fire until it takes on the typical tan color of buskin. If you want to lace it into a sort of bag it will capture a lot of the smoke quicker. You want lots of smoke and very little flame as the hide can go up in flames quickly if you are not careful. The smoke will help preserve it and make it dry out soft if it gets wet again.

This is quite simple but is a lot of work and takes a lot of time. I've done it and it works well. Forget all the slaked lime, bleach, vinegar, brine, bark and especially DON'T USE THE DOG POOP!


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## farmgirl6 (May 20, 2011)

fatrat said:


> Dog poop? I've never heard of that being used. I've done buckskin using brains and it works well. I think I would leave out the dog poop though.
> 
> I used a mixture of ashes and water to remove the hair. There is a lot of hand scraping done to remove the hair. It won't just fall out no matter what you do. IT IS HARD, DIRTY WORK but if done properly can make a leather just as soft as velvet.
> 
> ...


Bless you! why can't the instructions be this clear and idiot proof online!!! maybe I could cut the cow hide into quarters and keep the rest frozen while I work on one at a time...again, even if I hose it up is okay, learning experience for me and the hide was free!


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## farmgirl6 (May 20, 2011)

Okay that kicked my Butt!
it tookme a full 8 hours to scrape the hide without stopping - every muscle in my body hurts-after 4 hours cut it in half to make it manageable - my fingers are shredded a bit- is in the water and ashes and chickens poking about discards one side well scraped the other okay- after ash bath willscrape again


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## fatrat (Feb 21, 2009)

Yeah I told you it was work. That was the easy part. Next, after the ashes, comes scrapping out the hair, AND THE EPIDERMIS LAYER OF SKIN. That's where the real work starts. Don't you just wish you could go back in time and be an Indian squaw? You could have all this fun every day.

Let me know if you have any questions along the way especially when you start scrapping the hair out.


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## farmgirl6 (May 20, 2011)

fatrat said:


> Yeah I told you it was work. That was the easy part. Next, after the ashes, comes scrapping out the hair, AND THE EPIDERMIS LAYER OF SKIN. That's where the real work starts. Don't you just wish you could go back in time and be an Indian squaw? You could have all this fun every day.
> 
> Let me know if you have any questions along the way especially when you start scrapping the hair out.


Thanks to your heads up I knew it would be chore time wise but failed to realize what a physical challenge it would be - hubby said to say thank you for discounting the dog loop therory- is 24 hour good for such big pieces?


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## fatrat (Feb 21, 2009)

Do you mean 24 hours for letting the ashes and brains soak in? If so yes, I would think 24 hours should be fine for any hide regardless of size. Cattle can be pretty thick at the neck though. I think it would probably be okay there also, though I've never brain tanned cattle just deer.

You can let it soak longer if you want to be on the safe side. It just increases the possibility of things getting stinky during the process but that won't hurt it any. It should still dry out sweet smelling if you rinse everything well and you can even use soap in rinsing if you want.


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## LonelyNorthwind (Mar 6, 2010)

To slip the hair and remove any residulal flesh & membrane ---

dissolve one gallon of hydrated lime (the kind you use in your garden) to every 5 gallons of water in a large plastic tub, 10 or 15 gallons of solution should be enough to cover a cow hide. Submerge the hide thoroughly, making sure the solution completely covers the hide and no air is trapped in the folds, use a weight if you need. 
Soak the hide until the air slips off easily with the push of your hand - usually 8 - 10 days. When it's ready place the hide over a board and push off all the hair with a dull tool ( my favorite scraper is a really strong old metal kitchen spatula), then turn it over and scrape off any debris you missed during fleshing. *Wear gloves!!!!*

After the hide has been de-haired, soak it in clean water for 4-5 hours then scrape again.
Now you need to stop the action of the lime - one pint of vinegar for each 10 gallons of water. Soak the hide in this solution for 24 hours, rinse well and proceed with the tanning process. The nice part about using lime is that it doesn't get sour & stinky.

You're probably going to think this is gross, but once the hides are de-haired and thoroughly fleshed I use my washing machine to rinse and soak in vinegar, it saves a whole lot of work. I just fill the washer again when I take the hides out, add a couple cups of bleach and let it run through the cycle to clean.

When you're ready for the softening process, an old dryer with NO HEAT and a few softballs added does wonders.

I thought I'd put this part in that tanning thread in the vault, sorry - I'll go add it.


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## airotciv (Mar 6, 2005)

I must agree with rockhound, you need to start on something smaller. Like a rabbit, even rabbits are alot of work even if you know what your doing. Many years ago, my nieghbor and I raised rabbits and decided to tan the hides. What a gross/mess that was, we did everything we were told to and we still ended up with maggots. Yes, we finally figured it out, but I would never tackle a cow hide.


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## farmgirl6 (May 20, 2011)

well after about four days in the ash and water, I think I didn't use as much ashes as I should of and that is why it took so long...I found the hair beginning to slip in places, left it in today and I am going to take it out and scrape again tonight...love the Spatula idea!! yeah, wishing I had started on something smaller but it was free and I figured no great loss if it didn't work out, so far so good I think...maybe I built a scraping board while it was soaking and that makes all the difference in the world, the first time I was scraping with it slung over a fence hair side down. it is nasty, but I guess for those who don't know, I spent three weeks cleaning an old food oil 550 gallon storage tank with about three years worth of the most nasty oil, food particles, ect, including climbing down into the tank, so the is just about the same nasty...


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## fatrat (Feb 21, 2009)

Yes you really don't have to be afraid of using to many ashes. You can even make it into an ash mud if you want. Keep us informed I am looking forward to seeing a finished product, smooth and soft as a babies butt.


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## farmgirl6 (May 20, 2011)

I am struggling with one quarter of the hide as far as getting it scraped and cleaned of hair exceptionally heavy layer of fat and tissue (cut the hide in half, then the second half in half) so it is going back in a ash bath, the rest is floating about in about 15 gallons of water and four pounds of pig brain


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## farmgirl6 (May 20, 2011)

the hide ended up being in the brain water much longer than I had wanted due to scheduling issues, it feels very soft, the flesh holds my finger indentation but whew what a smell! I brought the pieces in the house just briefly to clean them with citris soap and hot water in the utility sink and I thought the kids were going to have a cow, it took me two hours to air the smell out. they laid out over night and are still soft and damp this morning, did a little gentle working and drying with a hairdryer last night, wondering do I stretch them out now or work them dry, and will the smell ever go away? whew stinky...


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## Vickie44 (Jul 27, 2010)

I am following with rapt fascination I really admire you trying this farmgirl , pretty neat .


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## fatrat (Feb 21, 2009)

I know that smell well from personal experience. Yes it will go away. If you wash out the brains well it will dry with a sweet smell. Smoking it later will help even more. I'm curious why you made 15 gallons of brain soup to put the hide in. You can just rub the smashed brains into the hide and it works fine and is easier to handle. The thing to do now is to pull and stretch the hide as it dries. IT'S A LONG PROCESS. Some people lace it into a rack and work it with dull scrapers while it dries. Either way will work. As long as you scraped the epidermis layer off with the hair it will dry soft. If it dries hard you didn't get the epidermis off. Cow hide is much thicker than deer skin and I suppose that may make it more work to stretch while drying. I can't really say for sure though because I've never done cow hide. Will we get to see pictures of the finished hide?


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## CarolT (Mar 12, 2009)

I was wondering where you woulde get brains LOL The processor won't let you have anything to do with the brain back. (She got her half cow from our local processor). 

So, are the spots still clearly visible? 

We're still watching your progress to decide how we want to proceed.... Or not LOL

Like she said, the hides are free and interesting to play with.... I think.


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## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

Sometimes it is both easier and most cost effective to let a professional do the work. I have heard nothing but good reviews on this company.

Tan that hide - The Firing Line Forums


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## fatrat (Feb 21, 2009)

I've brain tanned buckskin and tanned my own fur skins. I've also paid professionals to tan fur skins. Tanning leather and fur yourself is not expensive at all. Hiring someone to do it for you is. Your only expense is the materials and they are not expensive. It is a lot of work but if it something you are interested in then the work is actually fun. I think farmgirl6 is doing a wonderful thing learning to brain tan leather. It would be sad if she decided to let the professionals do it just because she thought it would be easier or more cost effective and then never had the experience of doing it herself. This has been a really interesting thread and I'm glad she took on this project and shared it with us instead of hiring the professionals.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

This is how I brain tan hides:

Muller Lane Farm ~ Brain Tanning Hides

If you can't complete the stretching/drying in one go, fold the hide back up, put in ziplock bag and put in the freezer.





> Don't you just wish you could go back in time and be an Indian squaw?


 Fatrat, did you know that 'squaw' was a term that the white men coined? It means 'whore'. Very disrespectful.


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## fatrat (Feb 21, 2009)

MullersLaneFarm,

Squaw means whore and is disrespectful? That's the first time I heard that and I doubt very much whether it is true. By the way my grandma was part Cherokee and I don't ever remember her being insulted by the term squaw. Our family came from the marriage of a Cherokee squaw and and a white farmer. That squaw was no whore. They were married. I don't remember any of my Cherokee friends being insulted by the term squaw so I really don't care.


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## barnyardgal (Sep 21, 2009)

I've been in the process of tanning a bobcat hide with fur on for a month-OH MY!! What a job,most of it was fairly easy EXCEPT now it is stiff as a board even i put 3 coats of neatsfoot oil on the hide,now am not sure what to do-the hide is wrinkled & looks like it needs ironing-ha...don't want to hijack this thread but it quiet a process being my first one!!

All i can say is good & you will have LOTS of time more than anything involved in it~~


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## fatrat (Feb 21, 2009)

For fur skins they really have to be worked a lot while drying in order to break up those fibers in the epidermis. It's a lot of work, a lot more than a brain tanned hide in which the epidermis has been scraped off. I worked my fur skins over a dull steel blade and a wood blade. It's really just a lot of hard elbow breaking work. I also had fur skins that dried hard and had to go back and soak them and do it again. If your bobcat hide has been tanned I would soak the hide in water and then go back and start the drying, stretching and working again. The soaking may take quite a bit of time and you may have to pull and stretch it some during soaking in order to get it well soaked and soft enough to start drying it again. Make a dull blade that can be held in a vice maybe sort of like and axehead. It may have to be much longer so you have enough room to really put some elbow grease in it. Draw the flesh side of the hide back and forth over it as it dries in order to break up those fibers. IT IS A LOT OF WORK, MORE WORK THAN BRAIN TANNING but as I said earlier, if you are really interested in learning how to do it, the work is enjoyable, but still hard work.


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

fatrat said:


> MullersLaneFarm,
> 
> Squaw means whore and is disrespectful? That's the first time I heard that and I doubt very much whether it is true. By the way my grandma was part Cherokee and I don't ever remember her being insulted by the term squaw. Our family came from the marriage of a Cherokee squaw and and a white farmer. That squaw was no whore. They were married. I don't remember any of my Cherokee friends being insulted by the term squaw so I really don't care.


In the general sense, there are many terms common to modern language, the origin of which very few bother to research.


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## MullersLaneFarm (Jul 23, 2004)

barnyardgal said:


> I've been in the process of tanning a bobcat hide with fur on for a month~


What method did you use to tan the bobcat?


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## Silvercreek Farmer (Oct 13, 2005)

Hats off to you for embarking on such a project. Over the past 8 years I have butchered quite a few animals, and was able to give away a few hides but most just went into the compost pile. After reading this thread, I may give a goat hide a try. If you get a chance, post a few pictures.


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## PontRougeLady (Oct 20, 2012)

Agreed! I would love to see some pictures of the final product.  I've never tanned anything in my life but now I'm looking forward to the opportunity to test out all this amazing advice someday. 

Thanks for the lovely thread, y'all!


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## Shygal (May 26, 2003)

Ok help me out here, I have been trying to figure out why you would use brains to tan a hide? Is there some kind of enzyme in them that helps?


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## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

Basic answer is yes. Have been used since early man. In The Clan of the Cave Bear Ayla's mother tells her, "God gave each animal just enough brains to tan its hide". Simple equasion - hide and brains readily available.


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## Shygal (May 26, 2003)

That could be a pretty good insult, "he doesn't have enough brains to tan a hide" 

It makes you wonder how they all figured these things out way back when


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## Ken Scharabok (May 11, 2002)

In any culture you are going to have your Mensans and Densians. Perhaps raw brains were stored in a pelt for transportation and it was noticed they had an effect on it. Perhaps the village genius thought, "I wonder what would happen if...".

How did the bow & arrow develop? Perhaps a child picked up a bow from a bow drill, put a stick in it and shot his playmate in the butt. A warrior saw it and went "Humm".


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## CarolT (Mar 12, 2009)

Not having enough brains to tan his own hide is a comment used around here LOL Bless their hearts...


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