Tannery Degreaser in Krowtann?

[Dougtman]

I've used tannery degreaser in my pickle in the past on greasy skins.  Has anyone ever used it in Krowtann, or can it be used in Krowtann?  I have a call in to the number but haven't been contacted back yet.

And a side note:  The Krowtann directions say use twice as much baking soda when neutralizing if you don't have sodium bicarbonate.  Sodium bicarbonate=baking soda... right? :-)

[JimE]

The baking soda debate has been hashed out numerous times.  The latest KT directions now say "use 20% more".

Go ahead and search the archives but here's a summary:
Debate still goes on about the 'purity' of the baking soda which seems to be why they recommend 'twice' or '20% more' if using baking soda.  A conservative approach perhaps to account for someone using generic grocery store baking soda?  It was also brought up the a hide can only neutralize at a certain rate and therefore using more baking soda that needed wouldn't hurt, the critical aspect is the time the hide spends in the neutralizing solution.  Previous directions said a total of 20 minutes, adding baking soda every 5 min or so.  New directions call for putting it in at once and submersing the hide for 15 minutes.