I have found that to tan a cape properly, of any critter, that salting twice is a must. Salt, scrape next day, and salt again. Then dry completely! I have never had a hair problem using this method since it was suggested to me a few years back on this forum. My question comes from the knowledge that trappers can skin and air dry a hide, without salting at all. why do fur buyers want hids this way? Don't they have hair slipping problems? Please shed some light on the method fur buyers like?
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because they do it on thin skinned hides and they flesh them first. They stretch them tightly over wire frames skin side out so that facilitates drying. They are usually working with fresh hides that haven't let the bacteria get a head start on them. A coon air dries fast but deer hide is so thick it doesn't dry fast enough and has to much soluble proteins or what ever it is in the skin that bacteria feed on. I think they would just as soon buy unsalted hides and rehydrate them themselves.
And I can make the exact same statement you just did about salting it only one time. If you salt it well, there's only so much water to be expunged from a cape to begin with. Double salting may not cost much in salt terms, but it's a waste in manhours IMHO.