Cattle skin dressing at home: processing rules and classification

Cow skins are actively used to obtain high quality leather. The production of this material has a long history. The basics of skin dressing were owned by ancient people who, with the help of improvised means, obtained leather and created clothes from it. Now the need for leather products remains relevant. To make the product durable and beautiful, it is necessary to strictly follow the rules for dressing cattle skins at home.

How to dress the skin of cattle at home

It will take some skill to process a cowhide properly. In addition, the procedure involves many subtleties and nuances, without which it will not be possible to achieve a good result.

Preparation for the process

After the carcass is skinned, do the following:

1. Clean it of organic residues.
2. Put the skin on a smooth surface so that the wool is at the bottom. This is necessary in order for the material to cool.
3. When the raw material cools down, you need to sprinkle the skin with a large amount of coarse s alt (3-4 kilograms per skin). At the same time, the product should not contain iodine.
4. Within 3-4 days, the raw materials must be dried. As a result, the skin should become hard and dry.

Soaking the hide

The procedure includes two steps:

1. Immerse raw materials in clean water. Within four hours, the material is soaked.
2. Further, for another twelve hours, the raw material should soak in saline.

Important conditions at this stage:

• 20 grams of s alt per liter of liquid;
• at the same time, eight liters of water are taken for every kilogram of skin;
• experienced breeders advise adding furatsilin to the solution. Such a measure will avoid bacterial infection.

The criterion by which the quality of the result is determined: the subcutaneous layer should be easily removed from the workpiece. If this is not observed, it is necessary to keep the skin in saline for a while.

The workpiece must not be damaged, otherwise the quality of the leather will noticeably suffer.

Mechanical degreasing, skinning

This stage is the complete removal of subcutaneous fat. The procedure can be performed manually or use a special mechanism. In the latter case, experience with the device is required: improper removal of hair follicles will negatively affect the quality of the material.

In order to get a quality product at the output, the fat layer must be removed evenly. First remove the tail. Subsequent movements are made from the axial center to the edges.

Material washing

Next, the skin of the cow must be washed in warm water using a soapy solution. To prepare the product, you need ten grams of soap per liter of liquid. The best option is laundry soap or soda ash.

Pickeling (or pickling)

The pickling procedure is aimed at changing the structure of the material. To do this, the raw material is soaked in an acetic-chlorine solution. Ingredients that will be required: acetic acid (concentration - 0.15%) and sodium chloride (concentration - 0.04%). Processing includes regular stirring of the liquid with the raw material immersed in it. The stage lasts twelve hours. The signal for completion is the presence of white stripes on the folds of the skin when it is squeezed.

An alternative to pickling is pickling, which involves soaking the skin in a mixture of water with barley or oatmeal and s alt. For every liter of warm water, there are sixty grams of s alt and one hundred grams of flour. The ingredients are thoroughly mixed and after reaching a homogeneous consistency, the workpieces are soaked in the mixture.

It is important to periodically monitor the fermentation process to prevent overexposure. Damaged material is not suitable for further processing.

Tanning

After all the above manipulations, the material is tanned. First you need to prepare a solution based on chromium oxide. The ingredients are taken in proportion: one and a half grams of the substance per liter of warm water. Next, the skin is dipped into the mixture and stirred occasionally.

To prepare the composition, you can use oak bark, willow branches, alder, nettle stalks.The components are crushed so that the same amount of each of them is obtained - 250 grams each. The ingredients are then added to the saline solution. The mixture is brought to a boil and left to simmer for thirty minutes. Next, the liquid must be filtered, wait for it to cool, and then soak the skin in it for six hours.

Fatting

To process the material, you will need a special emulsion. The procedure includes the following steps:

1. Boiling water to 45-50 degrees.
2. Laundry soap is ground to make shavings.
3. Add fat (80 grams), ammonia (10 grams) and soap shavings to the water.
4. The ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
5. The mixture is used to process the wrong side. Raw materials are rubbed with a swab or brush with soft bristles.

At the end of the procedure, the skins are stacked and left for a day. At the same time, heating devices cannot be used for drying.

Drying skins

The last stage of processing is to stretch the skins on a wooden grate with the wrong side out. It is important to ensure that the tension is not excessive. Otherwise, the material will not withstand such a number of treatments and will lose its integrity. The tension should be sufficient, but not excessive.

For the entire time of the procedure, the raw materials must be ventilated every day on the street, leaving the blanks in a cool place. The skin is removed when the middle of the wrong surface is completely dry and gains elasticity. Next, the skin is stretched on a flat surface and the inside is cleaned.It is recommended to do this with a metal brush. As a result, the product will acquire a light shade and extra softness. Cleaning should be carried out evenly, without sudden movements and transitions.

The very last touch is drying the material for two days. After that, the skin will be finally ready.

How cow hides are classified

There are several varieties of cowhide. Each type has a certain level of strength and requires a number of nuances during processing.

Opoek

Leather obtained from calf carcass is characterized by the presence of matted primary wool. The skins are removed from birth until the end of the lactation period. Such raw materials are used to create lycra and chrome leather.

Growth

The source of raw materials are young individuals who switched from dairy to vegetable nutrition. The material has the following characteristics:

• presence of a spinal strip;
• dull, shedding coat.

This type of cowhide is also used to make lycra and chrome leather.

Yalovka

This type of skin is obtained from adults. This type, in turn, is divided into several subspecies:

• light hide (13-17 kilograms);
• medium (17-25 kilograms);
• heavy barn (more than 25 kilograms).

The material is used to make Russian leather, saddlecloth, velor.

Bychina

As the name implies, this type of skin is obtained from bulls subjected to castration, and whose weight exceeds seventeen kilograms. The material has a thickness of up to five millimeters, but, despite this, it is highly durable - bullock products serve for many years, while maintaining their visual appeal. The raw material is actively used for manual and mechanical embossing. The bull hide is also characterized by a minimum of folds in the collar area. Bychina, depending on weight, is divided into several types:

• light (weight varies from 17 to 25 kilograms);
• heavy (more than 25 kilograms).

Bugai

This type of skin is obtained from bulls that have not undergone castration. The material features are:

• thickness;
• high strength.

The raw material is used for the manufacture of yufti, morocco, napplak, blinders.

Each breeder can independently carry out the dressing of a cowhide. The main condition for obtaining strong, elastic skin is strict adherence to all instructions, rules and recommendations. A significant help in this matter will be the accuracy and diligence of the master.

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