Dehairing the hides

A and J have their 2nd grade project making musical instruments. J bought some plastic eggs and filled them with various rattling materials: buttons, beads, pebbles, rice. She has made shakers.
A wants to make a drum so we are dehairing the deer hides to make rawhide. We wanted to soak the hides in lye (=caustic soda=sodium hydroxide) but it is hard to find. Eventually we bought some Drano (which is sodium hydroxide). I remember Mr Woolley years ago brought some caustic soda over to unclog the pipes on mum's ancient ringer washing machine. We diluted the lye 1/4 cup to ten gallons and soaked the hides for a few days. Then the hair slips off easily with a bit of scraping.

After the hair is off, the hide is rinsed out to get some of the lye out. Then to neutralise the remaining lye, soaked in a vinegar solution for 30 minutes (1/4 cup per gallon).