What's wrong all of the sudden, hair slippage !! Making me go NUTS

[seasons end]

I need some food for thought from anyone that can help.  I'm working on my 19th mount this season, and all of the sudden I'm having hair slip problems on the last two mounts,  that I've finished.  Slippage occurs only in a small spot on the mount (both times).  The first was just above the brisket, slightly off to the side, the second was on the side towards the top of the shoulder.  I've never had this occur before and all of the sudden, two in a row !!  Here's my process :

skin and cape
apply stop - rot (if it needs it or not)
freeze
thaw
salt
flesh / split lips , eyes, turn ears
salt again
rinse
towel off
apply JRTS cream (overnight)
freeze (if I can't get to mounting it right away)
After getting it back out of the freezer, I soak in a 1 # salt  to 5 gal. water for about a half hour to soften a bit, and give me a little extra time to work ears eyes, etc. , and then mount.

My drying consists of hanging the mount on the wall in a 10 x 10 room with a dehumidifier going and a fan blowing on the mount for at least a week.  the only time I mess with the mount at this time is to detail a little on the eyes,  mouth,  etc.

[George Roof]

What's with the extra salt bath?  Where did you get that step from?  I've NEVER heard of anyone doing that.  And how did they"slip".  Once a mount is done, it's practically impossible to know if the hair actually slipped UNLESS you're diddling around with the hide.  Once you've mounted and groomed it, leave it alone until it's dried.  I suspect you're pulling the hair out afterwards.

[oldterryr]

thatas the same thing i thot goerge after seeing your instructions so many times

[seasons end]

George, if you're talking about the "salt, flesh and Salt again" steps, that's actually on step.  I salt and let drain for a few hours, and then it fleshes a bit easier for me, when I'm done with the fleshing, lips, etc. then I apply the salt again to make sure I get the remainder of the moisture pulled and drained.  If you talking about the soak at the end, I just like to add a little salt to the water when I soak the hide. I take it I can skip the salt on this.  As for the mount slipping, the mount(s) is completely dried and all is done except painting,  when I noticed that the spots were slipping.  the rest of the mount is fine, dried and looks like it should.  That's what puzzles me about such a small spot only slipping and everything else is fine.

thanks

[oldterryr]

sounds more like tick damage

[oldshaver]

I believe in dry salting first, before any further tanning steps. That being said, I'll take a stab at this problem.

I think, maybe, your not allowing enough time to pass, between the second salting, and the rinse. You also need more salt, in that extra salt bath, if you must use it. 1/2 pound extra, should suffice. It doesn't sound like much, but it will make a world of difference.

Fleshing. Are you using a fleshing machine? If not, that is a likely suspect also. The areas you described, that slippage occurred, are classic examples of a weak pickle, the way I tan. The rest of the cape seems to fair much better, when the Ph is a little too high.

So we have 3 choices here.

1.not enough time passes, between the second salting, and the rinse
2.not enough salt, in that extra salt bath
3.The JRTS wasn't allowed to to penetrate, from excess membrane,meat,etc., in that area

[George Roof]

Why are you "soaking" the hide?

 "After getting it back out of the freezer, I soak in a 1 # salt  to 5 gal. water for about a half hour to soften a bit, and give me a little extra time to work ears eyes, etc. , and then mount"

That's the time to simply WASH your hide.  I use Knobloch's Pre Soak Pre Wash to help keep bugs away for a short while, but most of all to get the excess oils, dirt, blood and grime out of the cape.  What is the Half our soak in salt supposed to do?  The hide is TANNED at this point, and it's a wet tan, not a dry tan.

JRTS is the simplest of simple methods.  Flesh, salt overnight, Rinse salt off, towel dry, paint on tan, let set for 6 hours, wash excess oils and grime of, spin dry, final flesh and mount or freeze.

[seasons end]

Thanks for everyones input, looks like I'll scratch the salt bath to see if that's the cause or not.  Hey oldterryr, try the new bug foggers, they were great for killing ticks