How to Brain-Tan a Deer Hide: Steps, Tools and Timing

To brain-tan a deer hide, you flesh it, soak it until the hair slips, scrape off the hair and the grain, and stretch and dry it on a frame. Then you soak it in a mashed-brain solution, wring it out, and work it constantly as it dries. A final smoking keeps the buckskin soft after it gets wet.

The oils in the brain do the tanning, together with the smoke. Eggs or soap and oil can stand in for brains. The whole job can be done in a matter of days.

This tutorial follows the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's brain-tanning account, written for a moose hide, with the deer timings it gives. It is part of our guide to leather tanning and production.

Safety first: brains and chronic wasting disease

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) has been found in wild deer in 36 US states. CDC advice is to wear latex or rubber gloves and avoid handling the brain or spine.

CWD infections in people have never been reported, but it is not known whether people can be infected. Wear gloves throughout. If you would rather not handle deer brains, use eggs or soap and oil instead.

Tools and materials

• The deer's brain, kept apart from the meat, or frozen until needed
• A fleshing beam (a debarked log) and a metal or bone fleshing tool
• A large plastic can or tub for soaking
• A wooden frame and cord for lacing the hide
• A dry scraper; rough sandpaper is optional
• A stick and a beam for wringing
• Wood and a smoke source (a smokehouse or a small smudge fire under the hide)
• Latex or rubber gloves

Step by step

1. Save the brain

Remove the brain from the skull and keep it in its own bag, away from the meat. It can be frozen until you use it.

How much brain? The account's author uses at least one brain per animal. An old saying holds that every animal has enough brains to tan its own skin, but that is tradition, not a measured fact.

2. Flesh the hide

Lay the hide over the beam and scrape off the meat and fat, working one section of about 10 x 10 in (25 x 25 cm) at a time. If you can't flesh it right away, freeze the hide, or salt it after fleshing.

3. Soak, then remove the hair and grain

Soak the hide in water until the hair slips. A deer hide takes not much more than a day or two.

Scrape off the hair over the beam. Then remove the grain (the epidermis) completely. Brain tanning needs it gone.

Hair and grain removed is what makes the result buckskin.

4. Lace it on a frame and dry scrape

Punch holes about 8-10 in (20-25 cm) apart around the edge, closer at the corners. Lace the hide tight on a frame and let it dry for a day or two.

Once it is dry, scrape both sides. This dry scraping removes leftover membrane and grain. Rough sandpaper can open up the fibers.

5. Pre-smoke (optional)

The account's author smokes the dry hide before tanning. The reason given is that smoke opens the fibers, so they take up more brain solution.

6. Make the brain solution and soak the hide

Mash the brain and bring it to a light boil with about 1 liter (about 1 quart) of water. Let it cool, then add just enough water to cover the hide. More water makes a weaker solution.

Weigh the hide down and leave it to soak for about 48 hours.

7. Wring it out

Hang the hide over a beam, put a stick through the loop and twist to drive the liquid out. Then pull on the stick to stretch the skin.

The author wrung a moose hide 5 times, about 15 minutes each, with about an hour of soaking in between, then soaked it overnight.

8. Soften it as it dries

This is the step that decides the result. Work every part of the hide, constantly, until it is completely dry. Any patch that dries without being worked turns back into rawhide, even if it took up the brains.

Lace it back on the frame and work it with poles, a shovel or a metal pipe. The author finished by pulling the hide back and forth over a wood stove for about an hour. On a moose hide, the softening day took the author and a partner about 12 hours.

9. Smoke the buckskin

Smoke makes the buckskin more durable and water resistant, so it dries soft after rain or a soaking. It also gives buckskin its tan color. Longer smoking makes it darker, and different woods give different colors.

Unsmoked buckskin stays light, even white.

How long does it take?

Common mistakes

• Leaving grain on. It must be removed completely for brain tanning.
• Letting a patch dry unworked. It hardens back to rawhide.
• Skipping the smoke. Smoke is what lets buckskin dry soft after it gets wet.
• Expecting it to be waterproof. Brain-tanned buckskin is not waterproof.
• Handling brains bare-handed. Wear gloves.

Why brains work, and what you end up with

Brains supply the emulsified oils that, with smoke, turn the hide into buckskin. Brain-tanned buckskin is known for softness and washability.

Whether it is "tanned" in the strict sense is debated, as we explain in what does it mean to tan leather?. For the chemistry and history, see brain tanning: how the process works. For what to make with it, see brain-tanned deer hides: characteristics and uses.

How does it compare with leather you buy? Factory leather is mostly chrome tanned. Also watch the label: some leather sold as "buckskin" is chrome-tanned sheepskin dyed to look like it.

If you'd rather buy than tan

Deerskin is widely used in work gloves. Leather Collection makes its men's gloves to order in 0.8-0.9 mm lambskin and cowhide. The store's search showed no deerskin, and its pages do not state the tanning method.

Related pages

• How to tan hides into leather: the tanning-oil route, with lye safety.
• What is a tannery?: how the factory version works.
• How suede is made: how a tannery makes a soft, napped leather.

FAQ

Why do you use brains to tan a hide?

Brains are a ready source of emulsified oils, which soften and preserve the hide together with smoke.

What kind of salt do you use on a deer hide?

If you salt a hide to store it, use non-iodized salt.

What do you do with a deer hide after tanning?

Smoke it first, so it stays soft after wetting. Brain-tanned buckskin is used for clothing, bags, pouches and moccasins. See our page on brain-tanned deer hides' characteristics and uses, linked above.

How did Native Americans tan deer hides?

Traditionally, they scraped the hide, worked it with brain tissue and smoked it.

Can you brain-tan a hide without brains?

Yes. Eggs or a mixture of soap and oil can replace the brains.