How are sheepskins made organically?
OUR PROCESS
There are a number of ways to turn a raw pelt into a fully tanned sheepskin rug that can stand the test of time and look beautiful, even without harsh chemicals.
1. Cleaning
We take the sheepskins that are full of mud, dirt, grass, and tags and wash away all the foreign materials with livestock soap (or dawn dish soap) and water.
2. Fleshing
Because the sheep are sold for meat, the butchers tend to do a very good job of taking off as much of the meat as possible. There is however always a layer of fat and membrane between the meat and the pelt and we use a dull fleshing knife to clean the fat off the skin. This will allow for the oils to properly penetrate later, and as fat draws bacteria, odours, and animals to it, it also eliminates this risk.
3. Salting
Now that what’s on the skin has been cleaned, we need to clean what’s inside the skin and this we can do through salting. There are natural bacteria inside the skin that work to break it down from the inside out. Salt preserves the skin by drawing out all the moisture, blood, and microbes.
4. Fat Liquoring
Once the salt has cured and the skin is dry, it is rinsed off and we add our tanning solution. In our case, soy lecithin, the same thing you find in chocolate. Tanning is essentially emulsifying- it allows the skin to hold moisture so it can be soft and flexible.
5. Stretching
The hide is extended on a frame as it dries, this way it doesn’t shrink and pressure is applied at the right points to break down the cell walls in the skin, releasing the natural oils inside each cell and further softening & preserving it.
6. Smoking
The sheepskin is suspended over a punk wood fire (punk wood is dead wood that’s found on forest floors).This creates very few flames and a good amount of smoke. The wood smoke contains resins that penetrate the skin and bind to the oil that we add to the skin when fat liquoring. It creates a permanent bond so that the rehydration achieved in the liquoring stage will not wash out.
7. Final Wash & Polish
The sheepskin has now been tanned and is washed and brushed a final time in order to remove the smoky smell and larger debris. Often we will also soak the skin in lanolin, the natural oil produced by sheep, which softens the wool and has medicinal properties towards human skin. Saddle soap is applied to the skin side for an extra layer of protection and polish.