Brain Tan

 

Brain tanning is the ancient craft of making buckskin out of hides,  that usually have both the hair and the epidermis layer removed.   It is a process that cannot be mechanised and it involves a lot of manipulation and elbow grease.  The substance that “tans” the skin are the brains of the animal; they get mashed up in a slurry, in which the skin is then soaked.  This soaking and subsequent wringing out is repeated a few times; after that the hide has to be regularly stretched in all directions until it is completely dry and soft.  This transformation of “raw-hide” into this pure white and silky soft material, the “buckskin”, is indeed a wonder to behold; and all this using only natural ingredients.