Tanners Crafts

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A tanner was a craftsman who tanned and processed animal hides. Once softened, these hides were handed over to cobblers, saddlers, or other craftsmen who used them to make clothing, bags, dishes, and more.
It was not a pleasant job, as the hides needed to be quickly stripped of fat and preserved to prevent spoilage, which involved soaking them in vats of urea. Due to the strong unpleasant odor, tanners were located on the outskirts of towns and belonged to the same reviled group as executioners, knackers, and prostitutes.
To transform hides into material for shoes or clothing, they had to be soaked in water after being stripped from the animal. Once softened, they were scraped of any remaining flesh and membranes using a long blunt knife. To remove fur, hides were soaked in lime water for two weeks or smeared with slaked lime. They were then tanned using either alum (handled by a tawer), fats (handled by a chamoiser), or tannins (handled by the tanner) from oak, beech, or other barks.
This lengthy process made the hides supple, prevented decomposition, and sometimes changed their color. At the end of the process, hides were soaked in vats or pits of urea for several weeks. The tanned leathers were then dried, sometimes oiled, dyed, and polished.

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