Tanners & Tanning

Tanning is the process of treating skins and hides of animals to make leather. A tannery is the building / area used to produce leather. A tanner is the name of the profession.
The process permanently alters the protein structure of skin. Historically this process was considered a noxious or "odoriferous trade" and relegated to the outskirts of town. Tannin is used to produce this effect and is a compound found naturally in oak bark, and the bark of some other trees. 
Firstly the skin of the animal is removed by the tanner or bought from a slaughterhouse / butcher, farm, or fur trader. It is scraped initially to remove any excess flesh and/or fat, then cured using salt to stop any further putrefaction, and removal of excess moisture. In this way they can be done with dry salting, wet salting or brine salting. During this time the hair can be scraped off too if it is not needed, and put into urine to help remove it.
After this they pound animal dung or brains into the leather. The enzymes found in bacteria associated with these are used to create the desired effect on the skin to get the basic leather. The preferred animal dung is usually dog or pigeon, though any can be used if need be. Then the leather is stretched and then the final stage (vegetable tanning) takes place with cedar oil, alum or tannin from plant bark used. From here it is a matter of getting the desired strength and toughness of the leather just right.
Whole skins are turned to leather by the tanner by this method, and then worked further depending on the need of the customer.

Type

Artisan