Submitted by don on 3/20/99. ( )
should the skin be brought back all at once or gradually tablespoon of baking every few minutes?
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This response submitted by Bruce rittel on 3/21/99. ( rittel@ici.net )
Keep it simple. Neutralizing in fur skins or hairskins will never be complete. You have to worry about the hair or fur and the epidermis - leather people don't. They remove it! I recommend to neutralize a skin in a seperate bath, not the pickle. Simply add 1 oz. of Baking Soda to every 1 Gl. of water, soak the skin for 10-15 minutes if tanning with Alum or Lutan F, and 20-30 minutes if you tan with EZ-100. Complete neutralization never takes place. The core of the piece is always more acidic than the outside which tends to be more neutralized. To effect complete neutralization would require several hours in the neutralizer which would pulp the epidermis and cause slippage. And to be honest - the acidic core helps draw in the tanning agent so that the tanning fixes from the inside first, and then the outside. Likewise, if the outside tanned first, it would impede the penetration of the tan.
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