Havin' a problem here... last week I put a fleshed piece of buffalo hide into a lime solution to dehair. I'm not tanning here, just making a piece of rawhide. I used 8 oz per gallon of lime, and about 4 gallons of water. I figured it would take about 5 to 9 days for the hair to slip well. Yesterday evening I went and checked it, and after lifting the piece of skin out of the solution, it fell apart!
Was the skin already rotten? It doesn't smell rotten and is dry salted hard. Could I have used way too much lime? It is hot as blazes here- over 100 heat index- could that be a factor? I realize it could be all of these things, just fishing here. Last April I did the same thing with a deer hide- it fell apart. But, last winter I soaked a piece of buffalo in lime for damn near a month and it still turned out fine! Maybe the wrong kind of lime?
Any help would be appreciated!
Mike
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but for de-hairing, you should be using hydrated lime (not garden lime). I usually mix hard wood ashes in with the lime. My deer hides typically have slipped in 2 to 4 days. If you have enough info- I'm sure that others can answer the rest of your questions. Good luck.