sheepskin tannin poop problem

[shutupthepunx]

i got a very large sheepskin, it was only slaughtered yesterday so hasnt been salted or frozen or anything yet. its got a fair bit of poop on , most of the big poop only bits i cut out, the pooplocks and the staining not so much. i was wondering if anyone has any tips? its quite heavey when not wet, and weighs a tonne when wet. i tried washing it in the shower but its too big to do thorughly and theres no bath here. any suggestions welome. thnks

 

[mrcharly]

Scrape (carefully, sheepskin is fragile) all fat off the skin side.

Soak the whole sheepskin to remove the poop - don't cut it off, you'll end up with short bits.

Ideally you'd do this in a large trough. If you don't even have access to a bath, it's going to be difficult. Do you have a yard to work in? A super-strength bin-liner or rubble sack could be used to make a 'tub' with a bit of imagination.

 

[jackcbr]

cheap kiddies inflatable pool?

 

[mrcharly]

cheap kiddies inflatable pool?

What an excellent idea.

Erm - a wheelie bin could also work.

 

[xylaria]

How have you got on?

Was given two sheep skins yesterday. They met the slaughterman monday morning. One is rather beautiful jacob and number two is welsh hill cross. Both shearlings. I am now thinking have taken on too much work. I cut the really taggy bit away [there was an oriface attached]. They have been in a brewing bucket each with biological washing powder all day. The jacob is back breaking to lift when wet. I am working my way through scrapping the membrane off at the moment. I am thinking of using the washing machine method but i havent got a washing machine I am prepared to risk with the wet wieght, just two big brewing bins and strong arms. The bio soak has got rid of quite a bit of crud but they both look like they had very happy lives rolling in grass, i think they will get a good comb through when dry. Combing a bone dry tag [the techical term for a poopy dreadlock] works on cleaning shorn fleece, so I hope it works on on these.

I am bit fazed in how I am going to dry them [hopeful at that stage tomorrow]. I dont have the warmest or driest house, and I cant have it dripping on my kitchen floor.

 

[shutupthepunx]

so my first sheepskin tanning experience went fine a few months back. then the skin i got was salted. this skin was a few hours warm when i got it, the insides were layin under it and i took the liver for tea (it was still warm). i basically messed up by having it wet for too long, and the wool started falling out. you learn by experience. so i spent a while pulling the rest of the wool out. i then had a large hessian sack of damp clean sheep wool. it dried alright on its own after a few days. i attemped to extract the lanolin from a bit of it to see if it worked, but no joy. so i started used a dog brush to 'card' it (though now i got my hands on a pair of old carders) and then hand spun it using a drop spindle. it was/is quite exciting. ive spun pleanty and havnt seemed to put a dent in the sack of wool. i put the skin to soak in an old bathtub outside to help remove the remaining wool. but its still pretty cold here and the water all froze on me. it might melt in a few weeks and i can get on with tanning the skin for leather. wool on skin doesnt like being wet for too long, i hope you managed alright. hows it going for you?

 

[xylaria]

At the moment they are keeping thier hair. Sheep is by far the hardest pelt I have ever cured. I salted as soon as got them and then washed in biological washing liquid the next day. They were scraped of flesh and membrane on the first day. I have now spent every day since that drying and smoking them under plastic in the back yard. They are still a bit damp on the under coat but the skin is buffed and dry. I kept scraping more membrane off most days. Tommorow will be day 6, it has crossed my mind ikea is 40 miles away I could unicycle it faster.

Some sheep skins will loose their wool regardless of how well you dry them. If they are easy cares /ancient breed the warm spring has them shedding their pelt.

I have no idea if I done them the right way or not. I know washing powder, smoke and salt arrest bacteria, but most stuff on the net shows one of these ways, I have used all three. But then sheep are filthy and have very thick hair. The jacob skin has been brought inside tonight, looks ok it needs a serious comb though it is heavily dreaded.