MATERIALS FOR HIDE TANNING

Every hide tanner needs:

5-Gallon bucket

For neutralizing + acidifying hides, for storing bark-liquor. I recommend having at least two buckets.

Your bark-liquor buckets are going to get dyed from your tannins, like this one.

12+-Gallon tote

For bucking hides, for acidifying hides, for bark-liquoring.

Make sure it is heavy duty with a firm top that won’t blow off in the wind.

Large pot

For making bark-liquor.

Use at least a 2.5 gallon pot. This will be for making bark-liquor and for heating up our fat emulsion for making buckskin.

Rock

For weighing down your leather as it bark-liquors or bucks.

Just a regular rock. Get up to three rocks.

Bonus Handy Materials

Strainer

For straining bark + bark powder in our bark-liquor. Also great to sift lecithin + other powders in other hide tanning methods.

A 5-quart strainer like this one will rest on a bucket.

Sawhorse

For hanging hides, especially our hair-on leathers. Generally a very handy tannery item that helps prevent injury.

This one is metal + I use plastic to cover it so as not to dye the hide (metal + tannins react).

Materials to Gather