Skyrim:Tanning

A Tanning Rack

Tanning Racks can be used to cure hides and pelts, converting them into leather, and to cut leather into leather strips. In-game, the animation associated with this action involves a character (NPCs will perform this action also, though there will be no change to their inventories) crouching in front of a tanning rack and using an iron dagger to scrape a hide. This process is more similar to preparing hides or vellum than actually tanning leather.

Tanning Transformations

Leather is unusually heavy, meaning that in nearly all cases leather weighs more than the hides/pelts used to create the leather. Therefore, tanning when near your Carry Weight limit can cause you to be over-encumbered. However, further transforming the leather into leather strips always results in a net decrease in weight.

Several pelts -- all varieties of bear pelts as well as Ice Wolf Pelts -- are more valuable originally than after being converted into leather. Even if the leather is further transformed in leather strips, there is still a net decrease in gold value. Confusingly enough, Deer Pelts cannot be used to create leather.

Used			Created			Delta	Delta
Bear Pelt × 1	3	50	Leather × 4	2	10	5	-10
Cave Bear Pelt × 1	3	60	Leather × 4	2	10	5	-20
Cow Hide × 1	2	10	Leather × 3	2	10	4	20
Deer Hide † × 1	2	10	Leather × 2	2	10	2	10
Goat Hide × 2	1	5	Leather × 1	2	10	0	0
Fox Pelt × 1	0.5	5	Leather × 1	2	10	1.5	5
Horse Hide × 1	2	15	Leather × 3	2	10	4	15
Ice Wolf Pelt × 1	1	15	Leather × 1	2	10	1	-5
Sabre Cat Pelt × 1	2	25	Leather × 4	2	10	6	15
Sabre Cat Snow Pelt × 1	2	40	Leather × 4	2	10	6	0
Snow Bear Pelt × 1	3	75	Leather × 4	2	10	5	-35
Snow Fox Pelt × 1	0.5	7	Leather × 1	2	10	1.5	3
Vale Deer HideDG × 1	2	10	Leather × 2	2	10	2	10
Vale Sabre Cat HideDG × 1	2	10	Leather × 4	2	10	6	30
Wolf Pelt × 1	1	10	Leather × 1	2	10	1	0
Leather × 1	2	10	Leather Strips × 4	0.1	3	-1.6	2

^† Technically, there are two varieties of Deer Hides (2 IDs). However, the two varieties are identical as far as tanning is concerned.

Bugs

• Occasionally, when you activate the Tanning Rack, the animation will not start and you will not enter third-person view if you were in first-person view. If this happens, the game will crash as soon as you try to craft anything. ^?
  • If this happens, exit the screen, wait a few seconds, and then try again.