What Does Naturally Tanned Really Mean?

“Natural” and “traditional” are words used often, but they do not explain how a product was made. For our Icelandic sheep hides, naturally tanned refers to the ingredients and process used to transform the raw sheep skin into preserved, usable leather.

Every tanning method changes the structure of a hide. The difference lies in what is used to create that change.

Natural Tanning vs. Conventional Tanning

Most commercially produced leather is chrome tanned or tanned using synthetic chemicals. These processes use chemicals such as formaldehyde, in order to speed up production.

Our hides are tanned with natural tannins derived from tanoak bark or mimosa. They are soaked in a tannin-rich solution until it penetrates the skin, then finished with organic egg yolk, and organic olive oil and groomed by hand. The ingredient list used on our hides is:  bark tannins, organic egg yolk and olive oil, non-GMO citric acid, salt and vinegar.

This process takes more time and hands-on work than conventional tanning, but it produces a soft, washable hide without relying on chemicals common throughout the leather industry.

An Extension of What We Believe

Our commitment to natural, non-toxic products has shaped Rocky Mountain Traders from the beginning. It influences the ingredients we use, the producers we work with and the way we raise our Icelandic sheep here in Southwest Montana.

Naturally tanning our hides is an extension of that commitment. It would not make sense to raise our animals the way we do and then finish their hides using a process that does not reflect those same priorities. We wanted the finished product to remain true to where it came from and to the standards behind everything we offer.

Each hide also represents an opportunity to honor more of the animal by turning it into something lasting rather than allowing it to go to waste. We work with Traditional Tanners, a family-owned U.S. business that openly shares its ingredients and uses a natural, non-toxic tanning process. That transparency matters to us, as does supporting another family business committed to skilled work and thoughtful production.

The result is a naturally tanned Icelandic sheep hide that retains its individual color, markings and character—a lasting piece of our flock and the land on which it was raised.