The Naked Possum Tannery
Grant is a keen hunter and he has been tanning the ‘natural’ way for twenty years. He began dabbling with the art after it was handed down to him by an ‘old timer’ in the North Island and he has since tanned deer, pig, goat, bison, cow …… and now possum hides! There is a real art in bark tanning hide the natural / traditional way and Grant’s journey has largely been one of trial and error. The process requires a great deal of physical input, patience and time to produce a quality product.
These days, with the fast growing popularity of possum/merino clothing, most possums are trapped for their fur only and the skins are thrown away once the fur has been plucked. Grant doesn’t like waste, especially when he has the ability to tan those skins and turn them into useable leather or rawhide, so now he contracts the trappers to send him the “naked” skins which arrive by courier de-haired and frozen.
The tannery is a fully eco operation. No artificial chemicals are used in the processing of the hides, all fleshing and waste products are composted and all water residues are recycled out onto our native tree plantations.
On arrival the possum skins are thawed out and then soaked in a natural lime solution for a couple of days to soften the remaining fur and fat residue left behind after plucking and skinning. Grant then removes all the softened residue off by placing each skin over a ‘fleshing beam’ and scraping it down with a large curved blade designed for that purpose. Once the skins have been fleshed he then washes them thoroughly and places them into drums of clean water (usually 40 at a time) into which he slowly adds a bark tannin solution made from dried wattle bark.
The bark contains tannin which is the vital ingredient in making good quality leather. The skins are left to soak in the drums for a period of 6 – 8 weeks and are stirred by hand twice daily. During this time measured amounts of the bark tannin solution are added on a regular basis …… the secret to the creation of perfect leather is the measure and timing of this process!
After removal from the tannin solution the skins are washed in clear river water and carefully oiled with neat’s-foot oil. They are then individually tacked onto boards and hung to dry, which usually takes 3-5 days depending on the weather.
Once the skins are dry they are removed from the boards and the suede side on the back of each skin is ‘buffed’ to smooth off any roughness and to soften the leather. Grant has built his own buffing machine for this purpose (rotating drum with a sandpaper surface) and although the process is labour intensive the resulting product is a soft, very thin, very strong leather ……… ideally suited to the manufacture of furnishing products.
Some of the skins used for our lampshades are turned into ‘rawhide’ rather than leather. In this case the skins are cleaned up and dried without been tanned and once dry they are painted with a non toxic dye to give us a range of stunning translucent colours.
Bundles of processed skins are passed on to Axel in the manufacturing room of the tannery and he magically turns the leather into a range of beautiful natural cushions and lampshades. These products are then retailed on site from our Possum Shop and will in future also be retailed via an on line catalogue. The doors to the manufacture room are open most days and Axel is happy to share the manufacturing process with you.
For further information on the tanning process or possum skin supply please contact Grant to discuss. Phone: 03 524 8433 Email: grant@thenakedpossum.co.nz