HughMungis Report post Posted November 3, 2021 So I'm about to start working my first bison hide (i've done deer in the past) to turn it in to either a really big soft blanket, or something like a robe. I've done deer in the past and breaking those hides was a real chore, so I got to thinking about whether there's a way to do this chemically. I got to reading this chemistry paper on the hide-tanning process which was really interesting but 99% of it went over my head, but it got me thinking. There are meat tenderizers in grocery stores (bromelain powder) and even some naturally occuring enzymes that break down connective tissue a bit like pineapple juice and I'm wondering if that would help any. My question is: Is there a non-harmful bath or enzyme that I can put on my hide that will help break it while I sleep so I don't have as much to break when I wake up? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chuck123wapati Report post Posted November 3, 2021 1 hour ago, HughMungis said: So I'm about to start working my first bison hide (i've done deer in the past) to turn it in to either a really big soft blanket, or something like a robe. I've done deer in the past and breaking those hides was a real chore, so I got to thinking about whether there's a way to do this chemically. I got to reading this chemistry paper on the hide-tanning process which was really interesting but 99% of it went over my head, but it got me thinking. There are meat tenderizers in grocery stores (bromelain powder) and even some naturally occuring enzymes that break down connective tissue a bit like pineapple juice and I'm wondering if that would help any. My question is: Is there a non-harmful bath or enzyme that I can put on my hide that will help break it while I sleep so I don't have as much to break when I wake up? if there was i think it would be on shelves everywhere and on every hide tanning blog ever written. sorry no majic solution i have ever heard of turn on some good tunes open a beer and get to work i have found a lot of needless work goes into the process while the hide is still to wet for the breaking. If you do find one though let me know i have three elk hides and two deer in the salt right now. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tsunkasapa Report post Posted November 3, 2021 If there was an easy way, everyone would be doing it. And hides/leather would be much cheaper. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HughMungis Report post Posted November 5, 2021 (edited) On 11/3/2021 at 3:54 PM, chuck123wapati said: if there was i think it would be on shelves everywhere and on every hide tanning blog ever written. sorry no majic solution i have ever heard of turn on some good tunes open a beer and get to work i have found a lot of needless work goes into the process while the hide is still to wet for the breaking. If you do find one though let me know i have three elk hides and two deer in the salt right now. I got to thinking about this and figured I'd ask some people with more of a technical background. I called up a few universities and here are the ones that couldn't give me an answer: University of Kansas Wyoming University South Dakota State University University of Nebraska Cornell Stanford Johns Hopkins MIT haha I literally called all of their departments of biology with this question and none of them had an answer. I'll update the list as I keep trying different states. I'm starting to think that nobody knows because nobody's actually tried different methods of doing it. I think what I'm going to do is cut this spare deer hide I have in to strips and test out different mixtures to see what happens. Edited November 5, 2021 by HughMungis Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites