FAQs

If you ask other tanneries if they tan naturally, ecologically or sustainably, every single one of them will tell you, yes!  Because they know that is what you want to hear. There are no rules about using those terms. They may even list a natural ingredient that they use like alum or vegetable tannin. Both of these are routinely added to otherwise toxic chemical tanning processes, sometimes for actual tanning reasons and more recently for marketing reasons. If a tannery is really using natural, non-toxic ingredients, they will happily provide a complete list of the ingredients that they use in writing.

This has actual legal import, so tanneries are much more careful to be accurate. A common dodge is to say their ingredients are a trade secret, because they know that if they tell you all their ingredients, you will not use their services (industrial tanneries are the #1 source of EPA Super Fund Sites in the US). There are no secret ingredients in tanning any more than in the food you buy. If you are thinking about working with another tannery, ask them for just that: a complete written list of ingredients and processing aids. It’s the only way to know if they are really doing what they say they are. 

Our sheep and goat hide tanning process is certified organic. If you send us certified organic skins then you’ll be able to sell the finished product as certified organic. If the sheepskins or goat hides you send us are not certified organic, you can’t sell them that way — but you can take comfort in knowing that we are truly tanning your hides with a natural, non-toxic, audited process.

In order for the sheepskins you send to us from your certified organic sheep to be certified organic, you need to ask your certified organic meat processor to add ‘skin handling’ to their certification, so that it is a closed loop. Or, if you do your own butchering, then add that to your certification.

We are the only certified organic tannery in the US — and the only one who ever has been. There are people who falsely represent what they are doing, or say they are ‘organic’ but not certified. If they were actually using only allowed ingredients, they would get certified as it is a fairly easy and inexpensive process. The easiest way to fact check tannery claims is to ask for a complete ingredient and processing aid list, in writing. 

• Hides that are molting: Some breeds change their fleece seasonally and during the molt will have the old wool still entangled with the new coat coming in. During tanning, this wool will felt, and when combed out will often leave a much different looking fleece that is sparce and often unattractive.
• Pullers: Pullers come from moist environments where the wool has rotted a ¼ to ½ inch away from the skin. To test, grab a small clump and pull. If it breaks off, it’s a puller. Pullers are unpredictable but will often end up with a patchy appearance. You could shear it down to the shortest level as a solution, but that isn’t something we do.
• Badly knifed up skins: A few knife marks are okay — but if there are a lot of deep ones, those are going to turn into holes. You’ll be less happy with the finished hide, and it is time consuming for us to work around.
• Hides that were dried in the sun with fat on them: It is okay to leave a thin layer of fat on the skin if you salt it and dry it in the shade or send to us immediately, but if you dry it in the sun that fat melts and cooks the hide. The damaged area of the hide will be fragile and brittle.

Brushing/Freshening

• • If the wool gets matted, comb it with a pet comb. We love a medium toothed dog rake. Spraying the wool lightly with a 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water solution will aid in the combing, keep the wool really soft, and prevent frizz — much like your hair.

Washing

• • Wash: Our sheepskins are fully washable with the same limits as other wool items so that the wool doesn’t felt. Machine wash warm on a wool or gentle cycle using a wool friendly soap.
  • Condition: Soaps and detergents use a higher pH in order to open up the scales on the wool to get rid of any trapped dirt or oils. To close these scales, soak the skin in a container of water that has ½ cup vinegar per 4 gallons of water (scale at this ratio as needed) for 10 minutes. This will make those scales lay flat again and feel much softer to the touch — just like conditioning your hair. This trick works with wool sweaters too.
  • Dry: Dry in a dryer with no heat, or air dry. Air dried hides will dry like air dried clothing — a little stiff. Work out that stiffness by pulling the skin side back and forth over the back of a chair, or with some hand stretching and wringing. It won’t take much.

We don’t do any faces, paws or the like. That work is best done through a taxidermist.