How to tan fish skin?

Do You want to learn how to make Fish Skin Leather?

We organize courses on tanning fish skin. The courses currently available are arranged in Finnish, but courses can also be arranged in English. Some ordered courses will be kept in Estonia.

Current courses are of one-day duration, but we have also held broader, 2-4-day courses.

A webcourse in English is also under preparation. If you are interested, please email ossi@kalaparkki.fi for more information. Pre-sale of the course begins later this year. The estimated release will take place in September 2021.

Processing fish skin with vegetable tanning will usually take 3 to 5 weeks to finish. However, the whole process can be learned in one day by going through the necessary steps. We reserve skins in different stages of treatment for the course, and during the day we were able to see how the skin changes during different work stages. Most importantly, we are practically going through the most relevant steps to produce good quality fish skin leather.

Schedule and contents of one day course:

• Start at 9:00, finish by 17:30
• The main steps in how to make good leather without heavy mechanical softening are reviewed.
• The tools you need
• Learn the theory while working
• Avoiding typical errors
• Fish species used in the course are burbot, pike and salmon
• We have coffee breaks in the morning and afternoon, as well as approx. half an hour lunch break

Participant receives

• The fish skin leathers manufactured in the course (2-5 pieces)
• Course instruction manual and recipes
• Supplies and instructions for the final treatment of skins treated in the course
• Examples of finished fish skin leather (burbot, salmon, pike-perch, pike)
• Discounts on finished products
• Bucket with cover for transporting and storing skins in the tanning agent
• Guidance is also available after the course, questions can be sent by e-mail or by phone
• Coffee /tea + small snack during breaks
• 15% discount on products /supplies purchased in the course and a discount voucher to the webshop
• Rewarding feeling for learning a new skill

Participants will be sent the arrival instructions and course program 2-3 weeks prior to the course.

You do not need to bring in fish skins or tools, but take appropriate size gloves, such as cleaning gloves, with you.

We focus on a thorough review of the most important work steps for leather quality and how to avoid the most common mistakes. After the course day, you can independently handle the fish from raw skin to a ready-made vegetable tanned leather. 

The teacher of the course is Ossi Kumpulainen, the entrepreneur of Kalaparkki.

If you are interested in the courses, but you are unable to attend the courses currently available, subscribe to the newsletter below and get information on the upcoming courses!