- Blog -
The journey of your sheepskin
Before your sheepskin is on the sofa or chair, the fur has already had a long journey. It starts with a happy sheep in a beautiful green meadow. We can therefore reassure you and tell you that all our sheepskins are not kept and slaughtered for the fur. A farmer never keeps a sheep just for the fur, but for example as a dairy sheep, for the wool, vegetation or for the meat. Sheep's fur is a by-product of slaughter, which is bought up at a slaughterhouse and then tanned in a tannery.
The tanning process
Once arrived at the tannery, the tanning process begins. But what is tanning really? Tanning is important in leather making. If a coat is not tanned, the animal skin cannot withstand the natural decomposition process. By tanning you ensure that the leather remains supple, the hair soft and the color natural. The tanning process is still a traditional and labor-intensive process.
All our sheepskins are tanned ecologically. This means that we work with environmentally friendly materials. On the other hand, there is chemical tanning. Chemical tanning is done with unnatural substances, which entail polluting waste products that are bad for the environment.
The tanning process starts with a 'salt bath'. The coat is placed in a container full of salt, after which it is thoroughly washed for a long time. This is done in a tanning tray, a very large washing drum filled with warm water and soap. All dirt and salt has now been removed. After washing, the remaining meat and fat are removed with a meat removal machine. Then the coat is washed again with environmentally friendly detergent and bleach. After this, all remaining bacteria are also killed by means of a bath with salt, acid and fat.
Because the coat is tanned with environmentally friendly materials, the coat becomes fuller, softer and thicker.
The next phase of the tanning process is drying. The fur is dried with a wring machine and then they hang to dry in a heated attic for about three days. Once the coats are about 90% dried, they are stretched by a clotting machine to make them nice and smooth. To make the leather even, the leather side is passed along a sander.
Almost ready for your couch
The coat is now almost ready for sale. The coat is neatly combed with a comb machine and then by hand. The more often the coat is 'brushed', the softer the coat becomes. The excess leather is cut away and finally the coat is smoothed so that the coat gets a nice shine. The coat is now ready for sale.
How do I keep my sheepskin tidy?
A sheepskin is a durable product and can therefore last a very long time. That is of course so nice! Sheepskin is naturally self-cleaning. Dirt is largely rejected. If the sheepskin is regularly sat on it can prevent it from felting. The hair then becomes tangled and the coat becomes less soft. To keep the skin nice and full, you can occasionally pat it out, brush it with a hairbrush and hang it outside for a while.
Sometimes it happens that a stain does appear, can happen! The easiest way is to clean a sheepskin by hand with green soap and water. It is not wise to wash sheepskin in a washing machine. If you still want to do this, use the wool program at 30 degrees. After washing in a washing machine, the leather may tear at the bottom or become very hard and the hair can get a lot of tangles. We therefore advise against it.
Colored sheepskin
A colored sheepskin is dyed and can stain on damp or light surfaces. In addition, it is important not to expose a dyed sheepskin to direct sunlight for too long because of discoloration. With natural coats you do not have this 'problem'.
In short: give your sheepskin a little bit of love by patting and brushing it now and then to keep it fresh and beautiful!
Do you have any questions about the care or the origin of your sheepskin? Please feel free to contact with us!
