Polina Fedorova, About Leather and Its Uses

Abstract

Polina explains how people processed sheep’s skin and what items were made from different kinds of leather. In the past, people first cleaned a sheep’s skin and put it on a specially prepared cow’s pelt in the shade to let it dry. Then they applied salt and folded the skin. The amount of salt had to be exact, since too much salt could burn the skin and too little was not good either. Afterwards the salted skin was hung on the fence and scrubbed clean with a wooden knife. The water, fat and salt that dripped from the skin were collected in a container and disposed of far away. Then the skin was washed, brought into the house, and smeared with a solution made from sour milk. If someone wanted to make a winter coat (devl), instead of the usual 5 days the leather had to be kept in the sour milk solution only for a couple of days. The wool on the skin was detached with the help of a wooden knife. The wool was then used to make felt, socks and other items of clothing. The sheep’s leather (now without hair) looked as smooth as a rug. It was washed again, dried in the shade, and softened by hand. Lamb skin was used to make a special coat called uch that people wore during holidays and celebrations. The devl coat, by contrast, was worn every day. Sheep’s and cow’s pelts were also used to make boots, saddles, trousers, hats, ropes, belts, cups, containers, etc.