Some fascinating old leather treatments

[Toadflax]

I’ve just spent my lunchtime having a look through “The Leather Workers Manual” (H C Standage, 1900) at the Bodleian Library – a rather interesting collection of recipes for leather dressings and dyes involving a range of what are, to me, unheard of or unobtainable ingredients. Spermaceti oil, extract of logwood, decoction of fustet, decoction of fustic, and many more.

A couple of the recipes may be of interest – the first perhaps just academic interest, the second maybe useful.

To Dye Rabbit Skins Black

Put the skins in a solution containing 17lb extract of logwood and 10lb catechu and leave to soak for two hours at 85degF. Remove and allow to cool, while bringing the solution up to 95degF. Soak the skins for another two hours, remove and allow to cool, whilst adding 2lb copper sulphate to the solution. Continue increasing the temperature of the solution in 10degF increments, whilst soaking the skins for 2 hours at a time, until the solution reaches 120degF. Remove the skins and rinse.

To Tan Hide With The Hair On

Soak the hide in cold water to remove blood and dirt. Lay flesh side up and spread with a mix of 2 parts salt to 2 parts of nitrate of potash and alum combined. Roll it up and leave in a cool place for one to two days until the salts have dissolved then take off the flesh.

Nail to an outhouse in the sun and stretch it until it feels like soft harness leather. Apply neatsfoot oil and nail it to the outhouse again, in the sun, and rub it with the rounded end of a stick to rub out most of the oil.

And there are many, many more recipes for a vast range of shades of dyes of numerous colours. Makes you realise that it's so easy with bottled dyes nowadays, even though it has lost a lot of the alchemy.


Geoff

 

[grip]

Great old book that mate.Wouldn't mind a butchers at that meself. Thanks for posting