Not at all!

Our fish leather is meticulously processed to ensure it's odour-free. This way you get all of the benefits of a unique type of leather without any fishy smells.

Although we make a lot of fish leather ourselves, we're also proud to partner with established tanneries and sources to bring you a consistent but unique product.

The process of turning raw fish skins into leather is similar to standard hide tanning.

Step 1: De-fleshing
This involves removing all of the flesh and tissue from the skins. Although this can be achieved through a large machine, we do it by hand to reduce our need for excess electricity consumption. The skins are then placed soaked in a saline solution for many days.

Step2: De-scaling
The fish scales are removed by hand using special tools that streamline the process.

Step 3: Detox the skins
Any biological materials are removed by soaking the fish skins in a specialised 'Ofishal' solution. This ensures the skins are clean and odour free and without any oils/fats.

Step 4: Tanning
This is the process where skins/hides are transformed into leather. By using tannins sourced from plants, we're trduceing our need for harmful chemicals such as chromium tannins. This takes several weeks.

Step 5: Drying
The pieces of fish leather are then carefully dried on boards by fixing them down flat. Once dry, they're hand buffed which chelps loosed then fibres.

Step 6: Glazing
To make the leather waterresistant and staon proof, they're exposed to special waxes and resins.

Each piece of fish leather we make is handled several times throughout this meticulous process to ensure we create the highest quality possible end product.

It's reputedly more robust than cow leather of comparable thickness, owing to its fibrous structure that creates a crosshatch pattern instead of a uniform alignment. Although relatively thin, this quality makes it ideal for crafting wallets and card cases. Alternatively, it can be paired with other types of leather to create a thicker product with all the unique patterns.

We offer shipping to all of New Zealand and Australia.

If you're outside of these countries but interested in purchasing a product, please reach out.