ambrose_leatherin Woods, Mosses & Roots · Northampton ·
MemoryBirch tar and the hides at the factory
Right then. A lady at the autumn craft fair had a tray of smelling strips, and the birch tar one sent me back to the factory floor before I'd put it down. Not every hide smelled like that, only the dark ones for heavy boots, smoky, and it always put me in mind of a railway sleeper in the sun. You'd catch it on the welt long after the last was out. I should of asked more questions back then about what went on those hides. Cheers, Ambrose
5 comments
maeve.moss
A railway sleeper in the sun and the welt long after the last was out, and I could smell your floor from here, so I could.
hamish_heather
The birch tar page says Russia leather was oiled with birch bark oil after tanning. Kept the water out, kept the insects off, and smelled like quality.
ambrose_leather
Right then, that'll be the good boots. Russia leather was the posh stuff, we would have seen it on the best orders only. Cheers, Ambrose
sinead.smoke
That smoky leather thing is exactly what I'm always chasing. Didn't know there was tar in it.
ash.and.ember
Birch bark goes up fast in a campfire and smells nothing like that. The same page says the tar comes from heating the bark without air, which must be the difference.