Preparing for Week 3: Finalizing rabbitskin leathers

Rabbit Skin

1. Between 4-8 hours ahead of our live call, take your rabbit skin out of the alum bath.  
   → If you're in a desert, 4 hours; if you're in a temperature climate, 8 hours.  I myself, living in a rainforest, am going to take my rabbit skin out the night prior. (If you have trouble deciding how long to let the rabbit skin hang, err on the side of the skin getting too dry - it's easier to rehydrate than it is to speed up drying).
    

2. Give the now alum-tawed rabbitskin a brief + gentle washing on the fur side, using a mild liquid soap. Use whatever you have handy, like a hand soap. This should not take more than 2 minutes. Then rinse the rabbit fur under a tap with lukewarm water.
    

3. Hang the rabbitskin fur-side up somewhere safe. I usually hang mine over the bathtub. If you live in a very dry climate like the desert, you can lay the rabbitskin flat (fur side up) on a table. This prevents the skin from drying out but lets the fur dry out a bit.
    

4. Decide now if you want to oil the rabbitskin for a golden leather with a more outdoorsy use; or if you want to not oil the rabbitskin for a white leather with a more indoor use.  if you want to oil your rabbitskin, have your lecithin packet handy + a teaspoon of liquid oil nearby, like olive oil. We will apply oil together in the live call.
    

5. Have a tablespoon or a dry-scraper handy for the live call, along with a flat working surface such as a kitchen counter. We will be removing the membrane of the rabbit skin.
    

6. When we soften our rabbit skins, we'll want to be near a heat source with good air flow. If you have a little area fan, bring it on board. It will take 1-3 hours for our rabbit leathers to dry, as we actively soften them.