Is it an important step to completely salt dry the cape before I place it into the pickle (saftee-acid) or can I salt it then continue with the tanning process without drying hard? Thank you in advance!Rob
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in the archives, you'll get yes and no's. I'm in the dry em rock hard school, rehydrate in brine, and when relaxed, pickle. good luck
I've found that I get alot more flexibility and stretch out my skins if I DO NOT dry them out hard. I use the following procedures:
After fleshing;generously rub salt into all areas of the skin. Then if you are doing a cape,lay down a shallow bed of salt under the cape and a heavy layer on the top. Leave this on for 2-4 hrs.
Shake and brush off all the old wet salt and redo the salting as before. Leave this salt on for 6-8 hrs.
Now rinse the hide thoroughly of blood and dirt
From here it is put into a relaxing bath of Vanwet,PS-650 bacteriacide and cold water(no salt)for about one hour. It is then rinsed a few more times,drained and put into the pickle.
This is also good for hides that may be suspect due to alot of blood,warm weather,etc. because the hide is in the pickle much sooner than waiting for the hide to dry out completely and then a long rehydration soak.
Hope this helps you and I hope you try it! Jeff
how do u rehydrate them after being salted