Rabbit skin is a valuable raw material for the fur industry! With its help, you can simulate more expensive furs: sable, cat, beaver, chinchilla and so on. However, without special treatment, the material quickly loses its properties and becomes unusable. Therefore, it is so important to know how to make a rabbit skin. This is especially true for beginner rabbit breeders, as this is part of the mandatory breeding program for these animals.
Over time, gaining experience and useful skills, you can provide services for a fee to those people who need dressing, but they simply do not want to do it. The skill will come in handy even if in the future it is necessary to deal with more valuable fur. For example, in case of replenishment of the farm with nutria. And perhaps the fur-bearing animal will be caught during the hunt.
Key Terms
The technology of working with fur begins with the preparation of materials and tools. It is also necessary to study all related terminology.
The outer part of the skin with fur is called the front, and the inside has an unusual name - mezdra. Bakhtarma is hidden behind this layer.
By dressing itself should be understood nothing more than the conversion of raw materials into semi-finished products. The procedure consists of several stages, each of which, in turn, includes a number of important operations:
- Training.
- Dressing.
- Finish.
How to make a rabbit skin at home?
The simplest technique is used by the northern peoples. To do this, first, the skins are dried in a fresh-dry way. Then you should sprinkle them with milk and rub them with your hands, as if to remove contamination from clothing. All films are removed simultaneously.
The traditional work is carried out using basins and containers in which it is convenient to soak the raw materials. In addition, you will need other tools:
- chemical agents;
- small knife;
- rule in the form of the letter "A";
- sandpaper or a special scraper;
- gypsum or chalk powder.
But before you analyze all this in a little more detail, you should familiarize yourself with the first (preparatory) steps.
How to peel
The dressing procedure itself is not so complicated, but accuracy and accuracy are required here. Some manipulations are associated with the use of chemistry; to perform others, one cannot do without physical efforts, albeit small ones.
A simple recipe for making a rabbit skin has already been given above. Only at first it should be removed. To do this, the carcass is suspended upside down, and the hind legs are stretched to the sides. They must be firmly fixed, tied to a stick near the metatarsus, between the hock and fingers. After that, a very sharp knife should be made around the joint to make an incision in the skin on each foot. Next, connect them with another incision that runs along the inside of the thighs and under the tail. In some cases, the skin is also removed from the tail, but, as a rule, it is simply cut off.
Then incisions are made in another place - near the genitals, ears, forepaws (in the area of the metatarsal joint). Now you can remove the skin starting from the hips and gradually moving lower. It just takes a little effort. Sometimes you have to help with a knife to remove the skin from the connective tissue that covers the fat layer. In such work, it is just necessary to observe increased accuracy, otherwise you can cut through the skin, and the skin will look like a colander.
Approaching the head, the skin is removed from the ear area, where incisions were made previously. Now you should cut off the skin around the eyes, nose, mouth, pull it off the tips of the forelegs. A completely removed skin will look like a pipe with uneven edges and fur inward.
Stage number 1 - preparation
The initial stage of how to make a rabbit skin at home contains the following operations:
- soaking (soaking);
- headache;
- degreasing.
The importance of preparation should not be underestimated.
Even before you start the very first operation - soaking, something must be done. Dry skins do not lend themselves to dressing, and therefore need pre-treatment. It should be understood that it is extremely undesirable to leave skin removed in a “fresh” state, since it will be unsuitable for further use.
Immediately after removing the skin, straighten the rule with the mezra up, and the ridge line should be located on the middle border of the wooden board. And so that the skin does not sit, you can fix the ends with small cloves.
Next, with the skin surface, you need to carefully scrape off the remaining fat and meat with a knife. It also needs to be done right away, since removing them with dried skins will be quite problematic. Then it should be wiped with a dry cloth and left to dry.
Another important point on how to make a rabbit skin - all the steps will be given below. For preservation, it is better to allocate a separate dry ventilated room, where a certain temperature regime must be maintained (at least 25 °).
The skin can be considered ready for further manipulations if, when wrinkled, it begins to “rustle”. It is important to keep it in the shade and away from heat sources (oven, battery). Otherwise, the skin will become stiff and the hair brittle.
Soaking or soaking
The purpose of this operation is to give the skin of a rabbit a paired state and get rid of soluble proteins and preservatives. For this, a special solution is prepared, which may include the following components (based on 1 liter of water):
- Common table salt (40-50 g).
- Any antiseptic is furatsilin, norsulfazole, sulfidine (1-2 tablets), formalin (0.5-1 ml), sodium chloride, sodium sulfate (2 g).
- Extracts of plant origin - a decoction of leaves of eucalyptus, oak, willow (50 ml, not more).
- Detergent - washing powder in an amount of 1.5 g.
Many beginner rabbit breeders are interested in: how to make a rabbit skin at home quickly? It is unlikely that everything can be done in a short time, since this business does not require haste. The soaking procedure alone takes 12 hours, but can take several days due to the nature of conservation. If it was made recently, then the skins will be soaked for a relatively short time. However, if the skin was overdried or poorly cleaned, the procedure will be longer in time.
In this case, it is necessary to adhere to the following ratio: for 3 liters of the soaked solution - 1 kg of rabbit skins. They should be located freely.
Coagulation
After the skins are wet, they should be thoroughly rinsed and, while still wet, stretch the fur down on the block. The process of mesentery begins, which involves the removal of the remaining fat and muscle deposits, including the entire covering film - mezdra.
There are two ways to make a rabbit skin at home. It can simply be scraped off with a brush or the blunt side of a knife. Or pick up the edges of the film and, with effort and skill, tear it off the dermis with your hands. In this case, the process of dressing itself should be carried out in the direction opposite to the growth of the coat. In other words, from the edge of the tail to the head and sides or from the back to the abdomen.
Degreasing
After the surgery, you can start degreasing. To remove residual fat and muscle fibers, you should use soap, laundry detergent or shampoo. Based on one liter is taken (one of the means):
- soap - 10 g (finely grate or take a dissolved product);
- powder - 3.5 g;
- shampoo - 25 g.
After washing the skins, it is necessary to rinse thoroughly under running water, squeeze and wipe dry with a rag. A sponge is suitable for removing moisture from the fur.
Stage number 2 - dressing
Actually, this is the main area of work, which includes such operations:
- pickling (pickling);
- tanning;
- fattening;
- drying.
Carrying out this part of the process, how to make a rabbit skin at home, is difficult and troublesome. It’s not always possible to complete everything the first time, but it’s clearly not worth it to drop the case at the first setbacks! Only in this way experience is gained, with time, corresponding skills will come.
The step-by-step procedure below will help to understand all the difficulties that a master expects in the process of making rabbit skins.
Picking
This operation should be considered the main one. It is carried out without fail for the manufacture of almost any type of fur or fur raw materials. With its help, the skin becomes soft and plastic, in addition, this avoids damage to the fur.
Experienced experts carry out fermentation before this, but beginners should start with pickling precisely because of its simplicity and reliability. At the same time, you can make your own rabbit skin in one of two ways:
For dipping, a special acidic solution is prepared from salt (40 g), water (1 liter) and vinegar. The amount of the last ingredient is taken depending on its concentration: at 70% - 42 ml, 12% - 250 ml, 9% - 330 ml. In general, the same ratio of raw materials and liquids should be adhered to as when soaking: 3 liters per 1 kg of skins.
For spreading, the concentrate is prepared twice as fast. The solution is applied with a brush to the mezdra, and more than once, and after a short period of time.
Previously, the skins are turned upside down with fur. The procedure itself takes from 5 to 8 hours, but the main thing is not to overexpose. After this time, it is worth performing a simple check, which is carried out only visually:
- The skin is taken from the pickel, a small area of its skin layer is bent anywhere so that the hair is on top and the mezra is inside.
- The bend is tightly compressed by the fingers.
- Now the skin can be deployed. If there was a white stripe where it was bent for 5-7 seconds, then it is ready for further processing.
But the operation, how to make the skin of a rabbit, does not end there. It is also necessary to neutralize the acid. For this, the skins should be placed in another solution for 20-30 minutes: 1.5 grams of soda per liter of water. After extraction from the liquid medium, the raw material is squeezed out, turned out with the fur out and laid in a pile under the press (any board with a load). In this position, the skins ripen within 12-24 hours.
Tanning
This procedure will allow the material to consolidate its strength and ability to maintain its physical properties for a long time after the pickling (or pickling) operation. There are also several types here:
- Tannid - tanning is carried out using a solution based on bark and branches of oak, alder or willow (250 g), salt (50 g). All this is placed in an enamel container and boils for 30 minutes, then cools down. Then skins are placed here for a day.
- Chromium - here the solution is prepared using salt (50 g) and chrome alum (6-7 g), diluted in 1 liter of water. In it, the skins are tanned for 6 hours, no more.
The exact time of the procedure when answering the question of how to make a rabbit skin depends on the physical parameters of the raw material. The operation lasts until the material is saturated with tannins. To check for readiness, you can carefully cut a small piece in the inconspicuous part of the skin (in the groin area) - it should be a yellowish tint.
After the tanning procedure, the skins are again laid under the press on the bed for a day or two.
Fatliquoring
We can say that this is almost the final operation at the stage of making rabbit skins. With its help, softness, elasticity and safety of the material are ensured. For this, a special emulsion is prepared, which is rubbed with a brush or driven in using a tampon. It may have a different composition:
- Glycerin is mixed with yolk in an equal ratio (1: 1), then everything is whipped to a homogeneous mass.
- A mixture of fish or animal fat (pork, beef, rabbit) in an amount of 500 grams, laundry soap (200 grams) and ammonia (20 ml).
The description of how to make a rabbit's skin suggests that the prepared composition should be carefully applied with a brush to the entire surface of the mezra, being careful not to get to the edges with fur. All this is left for 3-4 hours. Tip: first you should straighten the skin on the rule for uniform application of the mixture.
Drying
This is the final operation of raw materials extraction. Now the skins can be cut in the middle along the line of the abdomen, after which they are dried at room temperature. In this case, you must constantly expose the fur to physical impact: crush, stretch, etc. If the mezra remains stiff, it should be further kneaded to a soft elastic state.
Finally, the Mezra is subjected to the following processing:
- rubbed with chalk or tooth powder;
- sanded with fine sandpaper;
- excess chalk or powder is slightly knocked out;
- the fur is combed with a brush.
This part of the process, how to make a rabbit skin in a home environment, cannot be underestimated. As a result, the mezra acquires a beautiful white tint and finally gets rid of fat, and the fur becomes softer. After this treatment, the skins can be stored for a very long time. And it is better to use linen or cotton bags instead of plastic bags.
Stage 3 - Finishing
The final operation of finishing skins is carried out in the conditions of manufacturers of fur products. Those involved in rabbit breeding can donate raw materials after drying and stripping.
After dressing, the coloring of the fur is done in rare cases, since the natural rabbit fur looks much better than after this procedure. The need for haircuts and other finishes depends on the further use of the material.
Conclusion
Currently, there are many companies that produce rabbit skins: in St. Petersburg, Moscow, any other city. Therefore, it is worth thinking about rabbit breeding, because a product in such an activity is not only meat. The beauty and color diversity of rabbit fur is difficult to compare with the covers of other representatives of domestic fauna.
Moreover, fur can be put into business both in its natural form, and in imitation of a beaver, marten, sable and other animals. Skins of lower quality can go for the manufacture of velor, felt, and good haberdashery products are obtained from leather. And do not forget that the presentation is fully dependent on the dressing procedure - the more competently it is completed, the better the quality of the output.