Our Spanish plates are the highest quality plates in the world without question. They are used by the fashion industry in France and Italy and for garment production in Europe, the USA, China, South Korea, and Taiwan. These plates are used as trim on jackets, gloves, and other garments. In the Native American trade these plates are often referred to as "rabbit blankets."
The Spanish use rabbit skins to make plates to resemble leopard, mink, ocelot, cheetah, guinea pig, hamster, astrakhan, zebra, snake, tiger, jaguar, black rectangles on white (rain), blue jeans, etc. They also make wild colors and process the skins into "sheared", "snow top", and other styles.
Rabbit skins are trimmed to make a rectangle measuring 6" by 12" and then 12 skins are sewn together to make a rectangular piece of material called a "plate."
Recent measurements of some plates at random are as follows:
The first plate measures 45.75" by 24".
The second plate measures 45.75" by 23.75".
The third plate measures 46" by 24".
These measurements were made on the hide side of the skin. The plates will appear to be a bit bigger on the fur side.
The sizes may vary somewhat, but this will give you a good idea of what to expect.
Do not dry clean
Do not dry clean the rabbit skins as the dry cleaning process will remove the natural oils from the rabbit skin. For Washing Instructions and Eucalan™ Wool Wash.
Why Do Rabbit Skins Often Have Yellow Edges?
The white rabbit skins in particular often turn yellow on the edges over time. It is common for many people to believe that these are urine stains from when the rabbits were in the cage. The real problem is that fat on the rabbit skins runs when the rabbit skins get warm or are stored too long. If the rabbit skins are fresh, they are usually snowy white - even in summer. It is only after the rabbit skins have been sitting in a hot warehouse for months, if not years, that the rabbit skins yellow.
All of the rabbits that we get from our preferred tannery in Spain are fresh goods. The rabbit skins have usually been tanned only weeks before they are sent to us on our monthly shipment. In general, our rabbit skins will be some of the whitest ones available.
We are the rabbit skin experts! We have been importing rabbit skins since 1996 and receive frequent shipments from overseas. According to U.S. Department of Commerce statistics, we are one of the largest importers of tanned rabbit skins in the United States. We sell to distributors, craft supply companies, gift shops, trading posts, clipper sharpening firms, manufacturers, designers, and crafts people.
We have dealt with a number of tanneries in 8 countries and now work closely with a tannery that is more concerned with quality than simply volume. The rabbit skins from this tannery are washed three times instead of two as is common at most tanneries and are alum tanned instead of using the more conventional chrome tanning process. This special preparation makes the rabbit skins softer and more supple to work with. The regular rabbit skins (not the females) tend to have thinner skin than some skins from eastern Europe. The thinner skins are easier to work with when sewing garments.
We are also interested in growing our business and know that if we ship you what you expect, you will re-order from us. We know what is in the market and are appalled at what some people charge for low quality rabbit skins. Compare our rabbit skins to those of others. We think you will be surprised.
A Note On Odor
Please note that the dyed rabbits skins do have a chemical odor as a result of being dyed. They may also have a mothball odor as well because we have to prevent bugs from getting into the rabbit skins. You can reduce this odor by either airing the rabbit skins out or by tumbling the rabbit skins in a dryer with a dryer sheet on very low heat for no more than five minutes. Any more than this will shrink the rabbit skins and you will no longer have the option to return them if unsatisfied. If you're worried that the rabbits skins may leave an odor in your dryer, we suggest you use a public laundromat.
Where Do the Rabbit Skins Come From?
In many parts of Europe and Latin America, the people there eat rabbits the way we eat chickens in North America. The skins are a by-product of the food-processing industry. The rabbits are raised for meat, not for their skins.
International Shipping
The domesticated rabbit skins can be exported without obtaining an export permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Transit times by air mail are usually 3-10 business days by regular air mail, not including customs delays. If the shipment is sent by surface (sea), the transit time jumps to 4-6 weeks.