Rawhide Goatskin

Leather Type: Goatskin Rawhide
Cut: Skin
Thickness: 1–2 oz. (0.4–0.8 mm)
Finish: Natural, Unbleached Rawhide
Item Number: RHGS

Goat Rawhide is a lightweight natural rawhide that works especially well for drums, lampshades, rattles, decorative projects, and other applications where you want a thinner rawhide than cowhide. These skins are unbleached, so the natural tone and character of each skin remain visible.

Rawhide is different from tanned leather. When dry, it is firm and stiff. Soak it in water and it becomes flexible enough to stretch, lace, cut, and form. As it dries, the rawhide shrinks, tightens, and becomes rigid again, which is exactly why it has been used for drumheads and shaped rawhide projects for generations.

Choose the skin size that best fits your project:

• Medium: Approximately 4–5 Sq. Ft.
• Large: Approximately 6–7 Sq. Ft.
• XL: Approximately 7–8 Sq. Ft.
• XXL: Approximately 9+ Sq. Ft.

Most of these skins provide enough usable area for an approximately 18–22" drumhead with the additional material needed for stretching and attachment, though the exact yield will depend on the shape of the individual skin and the construction of your drum.

Goatskin has a long history as a drumhead material. Its thinner profile makes it especially useful on hand drums and other percussion instruments where a responsive membrane is needed. Traditional drums such as djembes have commonly used stretched goatskin heads, and rawhide has also been used for frame drums, rattles, and other musical instruments.

Beyond drum making, the thinner and somewhat translucent nature of goat rawhide makes it a great choice for lampshades and decorative lighting. It can also be used for lacing, molded rawhide pieces, craft projects, parchment-style applications, and other work where the ability to shape the material wet and have it dry firm is useful.

Please Note: These are natural, unbleached skins, so color, transparency, shape, thickness, markings, and usable area will vary from skin to skin. Rawhide is also sensitive to moisture and humidity and may tighten or relax as environmental conditions change. Availability can be limited, particularly in the larger sizes.

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