WASHING SHEEP SKINS

Evening Star, Issue 19924, 21 July 1928, Page 21

WASHING SHEEP SKINS

I have cured and washed,, many dozens of sheep and lamb skins within the last thirty years, so I speak from knowledge of the subject, (writes Shetland housekeepeer.) I do nothing whatever to “ cure ” the skins in the general sense. I simply nail them up carefully somewhere, in a dn -ight, ’f possible, so that they dry quickly. 1 nan them up as soon as possible after they are taken off the animal, and scrape or cut off any bits of fat that may be adhering to them. Then 1 leave them on the board till I am ready to wash them, as they are a little inclined to draw damp unless kept in a dry dace. To wash them, I just do them very much like blankets—plenty of warm, soapy water and soda, I take a cake of Sunlight soap in my hand, and go all over the wool side of the skin with it, lathering up the wool. I give about three changes of soapy water, rinsing well with cold water between each soapy water; into the last rinsing water I stir a little blue. After squeezing out as much water as possible, I hang the skins out to dry, and this part of the work is important ; and a nice breezy day must be chosen, as the skins should be dried off without delay. When they are about half-dry, they should be taken between two people, and well shaken, first with the wool side down, then up. This is a rather wetting process, but it makes the skins much prettier when made into mates. It is better not to let the skin dry before the wool, which takes much longer. I always hang the skins quite double over the rope at first, till the wool is half-dry and shaken out. Then I hang them by one end. If possible, they might be smoked with sulphur before they are quite dry; this whitens the wool greatly After they are dry, combing the wool is a great improvement.