THE TRUTH ABOUT NON-ORGANIC TANNING
A great many of the cheaper skins on sale in the UK are imported, these often originate from China where they are produced by slave labour, without compensation for injury or death which happens not infrequently and not just in the tanneries. Some of the chemicals used have been banned by the EU, some are very dangerous to both human health and the environment and there are inevitably residues left in the fleeces.
British sheepskins are mainly produced using either white dressing or chrome. The white dressing is a cresol, derived from the petrochemical industry, it is toxic in production and leaves a substantial residue in the skin. It is a very damaging pollutant. Chrome also leaves a residue in the skin and is one of the worst environmental pollutants known to man. They are finished with a formaldehyde solution which is carcinogenic. Unsurprisingly, the average buyer knows nothing of any of this.
Any skin produced using anything EXCEPT a vegetable tannin (and even some of those) has a residue.
We guarantee to only sell skins from our own flocks and never buy in stock to re-sell.
Our sheepskins are guaranteed free of chemical residue. And are therefore safe for babies.
Organic tanning is an expensive and time consuming process, beware of any skins you may see for sale which seem cheap and too good to be true...they probably are.