Hand Crafted Rugs

Hand Crafting of Sheepskin Rugs

There are several steps to the tanning process from raw sheepskin material to turning it into a beautiful rug ready for your home.

1.Raw Stock- The skins are  salted to stop them from deteriorating.

2.Wash & Fleshing- The sheepskins are soaked and hand washed to rehydrate them, clean them and open up the skin for tanning. At the same time they go through a process called fleshing which removes any excess fat or tissue.

3.Pickling & Tanning- The tanning process is what converts the skin into leather, stopping putrefaction by stabilising the collagen fibres within the skin with tanning agents such as alum. The sheepskins are soaked in acid followed by the tanning agent in these enormous wooden vats.

4.Dying- If skins are to be dyed, they go into a dye solution.

5.Hydroing- Excess water is removed from the sheepskin in a big spin dryer.

6.Drying- The sheepskins are now stretched out on frames with clips and hot air dried in cabinets.

7. Caging & Degreasing- The sheepskins are then conditioned prior to being subjected to ‘caging’ – which is literally being tumbled in a cage to soften them. Any natural fats (lanolin) remaining within the skin are now removed by dry cleaning.

8.Ironing & Finishing- Once dry cleaned the sheepskins are put through a hot rotary iron. This teases and polishes the sheepskin and can give the fleeces an extremely silky, fur finish, providing a luxurious final result.