Dressing skins at home can be a great way to make money. Such a business remains relevant and profitable to this day. If you approach the matter in detail, then for dressing one skin you can get from 600 to 1500 rubles, which, you see, is very good.
The fact that it can be implemented in absolutely any region of the country also speaks in favor of such an activity. Skinning can be done at home. Such a business does not require large production facilities and capacities. So, in the article we will talk about the benefits that fur dressing can bring to you at home, as well as talk about the technology of processing skins.
Business prospects
To realize yourself in this area, you do not need to have a special professional education. The work will involve the simplest equipment, which an unqualified specialist can handle. It should be understood that the manufacture of fur in the home can provide a good opportunity to start a wider business. If things go well, in the future it will be possible to open a fur workshop.
At the same time, you will have practically no competitors. After the collapse of the USSR, the number of animal farms in our country declined sharply. Those farms that remain today cannot satisfy the existing demand. Therefore, a business such as fur dressing is very promising. The situation in the agricultural sector guarantees the demand for products. Clients can be both domestic and foreign customers. Now the demand for clothes made of fur, especially for fur coats, is growing rapidly. Even bear skins have a good demand. So, for example, businessmen buy them to use in country cottages as rugs.
What you need to know for a novice businessman
For starters, you should think about where you will get raw skins. You can work with private suppliers or specialized organizations. If you intend to deal with wild furs as well, you need to study the list of species of valuable animals whose skins are subject to surrender to the state. For example, making marten skins at home, which does not have a stamp (stamp) of a state organization, and their subsequent use for personal purposes are prohibited by law.
Also, hunters are required to take mink, sable, squirrel, otter, fox, fox, wolverine, beaver, column, lynx, muskrat, ermine skins. Thus, among wild animals, the ban on hares, bears, badgers, raccoon dogs, roe deer, wolves, deer, weasels, moles, moose, ferrets does not apply. Their skins can be used at will.
Where to begin
Dressing hides at home will require certain financial costs. It is most rational to start the business with processing rabbit skins, the fact is that their purchase price is an order of magnitude lower than the skins of other animals. So you will need a smaller initial capital, and the loss of funds even in case of failure will not be very large. In addition, rabbit skins are traditionally most in demand in comparison with the furs of other animals on the market due to their cheapness.
Farms
Skinning can be arranged on the basis of a farm. If desired, on any farm, you can organize such a thing.In this case, you will save yourself from the need to pay suppliers of materials, due to which you can reduce the cost of production and, as a result, increase the amount of net profit. Skins of sheep and goats are in demand in the country. They are used for the manufacture of leather goods and shoes. Therefore, dressing skins (sheepskin) will bring good profit. Large-scale farming activities will require the purchase of the following equipment:
- chipping unit, providing preliminary cutting of wool;
- rolling drums, rolling and kneading skins;
- centering machine, with the help of which they clean the fur and make the skins more plastic;
- softening machine;
- shearing machine;
- carding unit;
- a mezdril machine, which cleans the inside of the skin from the remains of meat and fat;
- centrifuges for spinning.
Skinning Technology
The traditional processing of hides in general consists of three components (stages): pickling, tanning and fatliquoring.
During pickling, the smallest collagen fibers of the skin are loosened. As a result, it becomes loose and soft, but still does not have sufficient strength. As a picel, weak solutions of various acids are used. Dressing hides at home implies the possibility of replacing the pickling process with pickling. Having undergone this procedure, the skin has a special elasticity.
During tanning, the fibers firmly and firmly adhere to each other, as a result of which the skin gains strength and strength. Tannin molecules also prevent collagen fibers from sticking together under the influence of moisture. For the implementation of the procedure will require the use of decoctions of plants that contain tannins (binders) or alum.
New tanning technologies involve the use of special extracts with chromium oxide, but they are produced only for the leather industry. At home, it is preferable to process cheap skins with alum, and furs that require long wear, to tan in vegetable broth.
Grease gives the skin water-repellent properties and further softens it. This procedure requires the use of aqueous emulsions of various fats. As an emulsifier, yolk, oleic acid, soap can be used.
Preparatory operations
Dressing hides at home begins with such a preparatory operation as a soak. After it is carried out the fattening and degreasing, which will be described below. Soaking is aimed at the initial softening of dry skins. Skin tissue can take reagents only by absorbing a certain amount of moisture.
So, you need to add sodium chloride (40-50 g / l) and an antiseptic to the water, which can be sodium silicofluoride (1 g / l), zinc chloride (2 g / l), formalin (0.5-1 ml / l), sodium bisulfate (2 g / l) or one of such means as norsulfazole, sulfidine, furatsilin (1-2 tablets / l). If the skins are thick, it is advisable to add washing powder (2 g / l) to the solution.
In the process of soaking (the same applies to any other operations that involve soaking), you need to use so much liquid that it is possible to mix skins freely. When all the hard islands disappear on the skin, you can finish the soaking. This procedure usually takes several hours.
Primary processing of fur
At home, stripping away furs is not so difficult. From the skin should be removed not only superficial fat and muscle tissue, but also fat that impregnates the skin of the animal. For this purpose, the peeled skin must be scraped with a blunt knife or a scraper until the fat ceases to stand out. Such a process is called coughing. Treated skins are either paired or canned.
If you intend to store animal skins for a long time that are rich in subcutaneous fat, in addition to thorough mechanical degreasing, degrease them also in a washing solution.Then you can apply the same conservation methods as for paired skins.
Preservation of raw materials can be carried out in various ways. On the mezdra side, the skins can be salted well, folded their skins to the skins and placed in a cool place. So they can be stored for several months. If you have a small amount of salted skins, pack them in polyethylene and place in the refrigerator, and preferably in the freezer.
The salty skin can be dried as dry by stretching on a rule or frame. But do not forget that excessive stretching can worsen the properties of the skin. If the raw material is poorly prepared, then as a result of fat oxidation it can “burn out” in a matter of weeks. In this case, the processing of fur at home will lead to hair loss, and the mezra will begin to disintegrate.
Pickling and pickling
As already mentioned, these two operations are interchangeable, that is, it will be enough to perform one of them.
1. Pickling
For home dressing, it is most advisable to use acetic acid as a picel. The concentration of solutions depends on the type of raw material and ranges from 1.4 to 10 percent. If you don’t know what concentration is required, use a 3 percent vinegar pickle - it is suitable for almost any raw material.
Do not forget to add salt (30-40 g / l) to the pickel. Pickling process takes 5-12 hours. By eliminating excess liquid from the mezra and folding the skin, first twice, and then four times, you can find out whether the raw material is ready or not. Squeeze the corner of the skin firmly with two fingers, then spread it out. If white stripes appear on the folds of the skin after such manipulation, the skin should be removed.
2. Fermentation
This procedure is more time-consuming than the previous one, but also more effective. Use rye or oatmeal as the main raw material. You can also use grind with a meat grinder Hercules. Flour in the amount of 200 grams should be stirred in one liter of boiling water until a homogeneous consistency, there you must add 20-30 grams of salt.
After the mixture is warm, put in there 0.5 grams of soda and 7 grams of yeast. When the solution has cooled, you can immerse the skins in it. After the pickling process, they should be washed in water. The skins are now ready for the re-cure. Wipe the cloth with a dry cloth, dry it slightly and start working with a scraper.
Tanning
We have already said that the tanning of skins at home is carried out using vegetable decoctions or alum. For tannin tanning, a decoction of willow bark is best suited. To prepare a tanning agent, place the bark and small willow twigs in a bowl, fill with water and simmer for half an hour over low heat. After this, drain the broth, add salt (50 g / l) to it and cool.
Everything, the tanning agent is ready, you can put skins in it! To check the processing stage, cut a thin strip from the skin and look at the cut through the magnifying glass, how deeply the skin is soaked. After complete impregnation, the tanning process is stopped, and the skins are laid out for a day or two on a bed.
Zhirok
Let us give an example of the simplest fatliquoring compositions. So, you can combine egg yolk and glycerin in equal proportions, and then beat the mixture. Or, dissolve 100 grams of soap in one liter of boiling water, and then add a kilogram of pork fat there. The mixture should be mixed, and then removed from the heat and add 10 milliliters of ammonia. You can store the excess fat in the refrigerator, before use it will need to be heated and re-beat. The skins after the procedure are again laid out on the bed, depending on the thickness of the skin, it will last from a couple of hours to one day. Make sure that the emulsion penetrates well into the skin.
Drying
When residual moisture evaporates from the skin, it should be kneaded. This is the essence of the operation. First, the skin needs to be dried in the open air in the usual way, and when stable white spots begin to form on the skin after sipping, you can begin vigorous activity.Thin skins need to be stretched in different directions with your hands, medium ones should be kneaded with various devices, and the thickest ones should be treated with scrapers. With a scraper you can not only remove the extra layer of mezra, but also perfectly stretch the skin.
Finishing work
After completion of the dressing, the mezdra should be rubbed with tooth powder or chalk in order to absorb excess fat. Then it must be cleaned with sandpaper or pumice. After that, comb the fur. You can consider the process complete!
Finally
So skinning is a good and promising business. The main thing is to reasonably evaluate your capabilities, find reliable suppliers and learn the craft. Such a business is considered highly profitable, because the fashion for fur and leather products never passes, which means that the demand for these products will not fall. In addition, the glut of this market segment in the near future can hardly be expected. Good luck!
