Maximizing the yield from our recent lamb harvest is important to us. My friend Shaun does tanning of hides so I bring our lamb hides to him for alum tanning. Shaun demonstrates the alum tanning process and also shows us some of his brain tanning creations.
Shaun's alum tanning process: So here are my ratios for the alum tanning paste that I use to do one sheep hide. In a 5 gallon plastic bucket, add one quart of warm water, dissolve 1 cup of non iodized salt and 2/3 cup of washing soda. After this is dissolved, slowly add in 2 cups of aluminum sulfate while stirring. The alum will foam up really high so give it time to settle and not spill over your bucket. You may need to add a little more water if the solution is too powdery and not liquid.
After the alum has settled (about 20 min) add some cheap cornmeal as a thickener. You want this stuff to be a sticky paste, not too dry and powdery and not too runny. The cornmeal will absorb water after a few minutes and you may need to add a little more water to get the right consistency.
When it's a good paste, apply it to the flesh side of a fresh sheep, goat or deer hide. If using a dry or salted hide, you will need to rehydrate it first by putting some warm wet towels on the flesh side for a day or two to get the skin to accept the alum paste.
Allow the hide to sit flat on the ground a week or so, until this alum stuff dries out. My experience has been that my hides turn out best after sitting for 6 months with this stuff on but I did some that sat for about 2 weeks and they came out decent, just not as soft.
When ready to soften, soak the hide in a tub of water for an hour or so until soft. Wash the fleece and comb at this point. Don't wash the flesh side, just rinse it in water. Gently wring the hide and shake the water out as best you can. Let the hide dry slowly, over several days in the shade. Check it 2 times a day or so to make sure the skin isn't drying out. When the skin starts to dry (at the thin spots first) begin pulling on the hide. The skin fibers will turn white and open up becoming dry but still flexible. Continue this every few hours until the hide is dry and soft. Then comb the fleece one last time and it should be good to go.
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