Hair On Bark Tanning – Zoom Class

Next class: June 2026, sign up now to ensure a spot.

“Basics of Bark Tan” is a prerequisite for this class and is offered in May. Link: Basics of Bark Tan

Bark or vegetable tanning is a great way to tan soft and washable hair on hides from sheep, deer, goats, rabbits or just about anything. We’ll tan two x one square foot pieces of sheepskin, one using a pickle, and one without. You’ll learn the differences between these two approaches, how to make the hides come out as soft as possible and with zero to minimal coloring of the hair or wool. You’ll learn tricks of the trade for cleaning and optimizing wool and hair softness.

We’ll also talk about hide selection, ways to thin the skin, and peculiarities of tanning various types of hides with the hair on (I’m quite familiar with deer, sheep, goat, elk, antelope, bison, fox, coyote, skunk, rabbit and racoon. I have some experience with bear, beaver, bobcat and mountain lion).

Bark tanning can be a great way to tan hair on hides because:

• Combined with pickling, there is no risk of hair slip – like zero
• It fully tans the grain (under the hair), making it strong, durable and unattractive to bugs
• It can strengthen and add body to thinner, weaker skins
• It doesn’t wash out like alum, so they are fully washable
• Can withstand high enough temperatures to remove lanolin in sheepskins
• The tannin does the hard work for you making this one of the physically easiest, and least time consuming ways to naturally tan your own hides.

Bark tanning might not be what you want in all situations:

• It will color the skin side no matter what (not going to be white)
• It can color the hair/wool, though we’ll teach you how to keep this very limited
• It usually adds some ‘body’. While we are good at getting a very soft and flexible feel, it’s trickier with denser hides. Other methods can be better for that very ushy gushy feel with certain hide types.

You’ll love this class if:

• You want to tan hair on hides from animals you raise, hunt or gather
• You want to understand a valuable survival and sustainable living skill
• You want to create or improve you own small tannery business

The materials kit is included in the class fee and contains everything you need that you might not have around the kitchen – two one square foot pieces of raw salted sheepskin, 3 lb salts, 6 oz citric acid, and 1 1/2 pound mimosa tannin. You can also get the Oak Bark hair-on materials kit for an additional $30 (this would mean you are tanning three pieces of sheepskin during the class. The value of using the oak bark kit would be to see what it’s like doing this with hand harvested materials, and comparing the results of a condensed tannin like Mimosa, to a hydrolysable tannin like oak bark). You might also consider getting a pH meter, a salinometer and/or Universal pH Indicator. They aren’t necessary for the class but are useful for this type of tanning and will add to your experience. These will pop up as options when you checkout.

There is one time slot for this class in June: 6 pm pacific time. All sessions are recorded and available to watch on your own schedule or to re-watch.

Customs: declared values will only be the value of the materials kit, not the class cost

Monday June 1st

90 minutes: Fleshing & Pickling

Thursday June 4th

60 minutes: Mix Tannin, Get Tanning

Thursday June 11th 

60 minutes: Rinse out excess tannin. Apply oils, set up to dry

Monday June 15th

60 minutes: Softening and conditioning