>>916180You have to break it in if you are wanting something pliable. You are also gonna wanna remove any excess you can to make it thinner. If that's what you are going for then remove the excess first while it's dry. Then take a moist towel that will cover the dried leather. Roll it up if possible, if too stiff that's ok. Then place the hide and towel inside a garbage bag. In 24 hrs you should have something you can work with. Once it's semi rigid (not loose like it came out of the pickle, but not bone dry) you have to break it in constantly as it dries. You can run it over a fence post, bar, stool, etc. I'll run it over a bar stool turned upside down or a barbell handle. This is the hardest most tedious part of the process. You can buy tanning solution if you want, but since you are trying to do this with just stuff lying around its not 100% needed. If you have any leather care products for natural grain leather like obenaufs you can use that if you want. Just keep breaking it in every hour or so as its drying. I've done it before but I don't really mess with it. I just put the hides on stretchers or boards and let them dry flat so I can hang them on walls or other things. Only reason to break it in my opinions is if you are making garments.
