To begin Phase I, we prepared the lamb’s hide for the first series of baths. The lamb’s hide was salted to keep it from going bad in transport, so first we rinsed the hide thoroughly to remove the salt. The hide was also a bit roughly hewn off, so we wanted to cut off the larger pieces of fat and connective tissue on the flesh side before beginning the water and lime baths.

Step 1. Water bath for “a day and a night” (24 hours).

We submerged the lamb’s hide in a water bath using cold water for a full 24 hours.

Step 2. Wash until water runs clear.

We removed the hide from the water bath and rinsed it. The water bath worked quite well in loosening up a lot of the dirt that had been stuck on the wool and we rinsed it thoroughly until the water ran clear as instructed.

Step 3. Make a new bath and “place therein old lime (calcem non recentem) and water mixing well together to form a thick cloudy liquor.” Place skins into the lime bath folding them on the flesh side.

We filled the tank with 15 gallons of water (about 1/3 of the way full) and added 2 cups of the dry powdered agricultural lime until it reached a very cloudy consistency.

We were concerned about Step 3 because at this point the recipe becomes vague. The recipe does not include specific measurements, only a general description of “place therein old lime (calcem non recentem) and water mixing well together to form a thick cloudy liquor.” It was cloudy after one cup but not necessarily thick (we weren’t sure if it meant thick as in opacity or thick as in the density of the liquid) so we added a second cup of lime.

We discussed that if the mixture appeared to be too strong that we might not wait the full eight days as directed and we’ll remove and rinse the hide earlier. If the mixture turned out to not be strong enough, we would simply need to add more lime later and try again.

After mixing the lime bath, we then added the hide carefully to the lime slurry mixture, folding it over on the flesh side (so the wool-side was on the outside).

Step 4. Move the hide with a pole two or three times each day, leaving it for eight days. Twice as long in the winter.

Note: We decided to follow the “summer” time schedule since we are doing the processing of the skin indoors inside a climate controlled laboratory at UT set at 72 degrees Fahrenheit.

For the next eight days one of us came into the lab each day to stir up the lime bath. This part of the process seems necessary in order to agitate the solution and the wool on the hide to make sure the lime slurry can penetrate the thick wool and loosen it. The lime mixture would settle after a few hours, so stirring it helped keep the lime and water from separating.

When we first mixed the lime bath, it was an opaque white color. By the end of the eight days, the lime bath was a murky brownish-yellow color.

Note: Safety first! We continued to wear protective gear for the daily stirring of the lime bath including gloves, goggles, and respirators. Not only do the lime baths smell truly awful throughout this part of the process, but the fumes from the lime are toxic to breathe in. If any of the lime bath makes contact to bare skin it can cause burns and if any gets in one’s eyes it can damage or even blindness.

Leave a comment