Once dry, they’re taken inside to be scraped clean. The hair that hasn’t already fallen off is sheared with a super sharp blade, and the leather (because that’s what it is by now), is buffed. Again, all this is done by hand, 100% manpower. This worker let me watch him work for a bit, it was fascinating. By now the smell of urine has been replaced by the stench of sweat. These guys work hard: Next comes the dyeing process. All the colours derive from natural products: poppy flowers for red, orange from henna, blue from indigo, and yellow from saffron. Because saffron is expensive though, yellow leather is produced using a small amount of the spice mixed with oil, hand-rubbed directly onto the skins.
