Certifiable?
The idea of Driftless Tannery came to us in 2019 during the harvest season. We were, and still are, small farmers who believe in using the whole animal out of respect for the life they lived and the food they provide our families. We honor the sacrifice. In order to do that in 2019 we had to send our sheepskin and goat hides off to conventional tanneries only to receive back a product that was ultra processed using chemicals that were not welcome in our homes. We knew there had to be a better way. Animal skins have been used for a millennium for clothing and home goods. Long before modern chemistry and manufacturing became what it is today, animal skins were preserved as part of the fabric of our lives. Being somewhat naive about what it meant to start a business; we threw ourselves into the process. We had a website and a business plan before we knew how to tan. Thankfully where there is a will there is a way.
Today we consider ourselves natural tanners. We bark tan hides using natural ingredients. In our process we use citric acid, salt, bark tannin, natural detergents, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) and wheat bran. Our food grade citric acid comes from a Midwest supplier. We buy our salt and baking soda through a local feed store even though we could save a few hundred dollars a year sourcing it directly from a global corporation. Local relationships are worth spending a few extra dollars on.
The bark tannin we use is called Mimosa ME. It is an agricultural product out of South Africa. The bark is harvested from black wattle acacia trees which grow to harvest in 7 years. The bark is used for tanning. The core wood is used for building materials. We have tried local species of bark and found nothing available in Wisconsin to harvest sustainably at the amount we need to provide the level of service we do.
The main detergent we use to clean fresh, dirty sheepskin comes from Unicorn Products. We learned about the soap, Unicorn Scour, from fiber enthusiasts that believe this is the only natural product available to clean the detritus of life out of wool. Unicorn products are earth-friendly and biodegradable; not tested on animals; FREE from dyes, phosphates, fillers, or irritants; and made in the USA. The Unicorn ethos matches our own.
The wheat bran that is used during our leather making process comes from our friends and local mill owners at Meadowlark Organics. The bran is used to create a fermented drench to help us balance out pH levels in rawhide before tanning.
All this said, based on the inputs to our tanning process, we believe we could get the tannery certified as an organic tannery.
We looked into organic certification in the tanning industry. We found the usual bureaucratic hoops. The USDA Organic certification doesn’t certify the manufacturing process though they can certify the sheep and the farms the sheep come from. We could reach out to be certified through the Oregon Tilth and there are international certifications provided by either Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) or the third party certified Organic Content Standard (OCS). All of the aforementioned are good resources. We believe organic certification is helpful for validating purchases from big corporations that make organic claims. Driftless Tannery is not that. We are a small business, supporting both organic and conventional farmers and ranchers in the US.
Neither of us are organic certified on our farms. Although we respect the organic certification process, we know the hoops necessary to get certified. We are small farmers. People we do business with know us and have seen the way we farm.
We have not gone through the organic certification for the Tannery for the same reason. We are a small tannery with a handful of employees working in small town America. Our doors are open to anyone who wishes to travel to see us in Argyle. We are as transparent as we can be here and on social media for those of you who don’t live within visiting distance.
Although we are not certified organic and likely never will be, we do all we can to care for the environment. We cherish our local community and work to support local small businesses whenever we can.
Six years ago we set out to find an alternative to the commercial tanning process. We believe we have achieved just that-thanks to all of you who have used our services or purchased our products. We could not do this work without you.
We are here because of, and for, you.
-Bethany and Danielle
