I'm in the process of tanning a whitetail cape. Its been salted for 48 hours, pickled for 24 hours, and it is in the 24th hour of Lutan-F. I'm worried because the hair is starting to slip with small amounts of pressure. Is this normal or am I in big trouble? I,ve seen hair slip before, and to me, what I have now doesn't seem disasterous, but it is slipping somewhat. Can anyone help me? Thanks.
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Tim. If I am reading this correctly you missed a step. When you say "pickle" you didn't pickle in the Lutan F did you? Lutan is the third step in the tanning process. After salting the cape should have been placed in a pickle solution for with a ph of 2 for three days, shaved to desired thickness, placed back into the pickle for another 24 hours. Then the cape is neutralized bringing the ph between 4 and five. Then the cape is placed in Lutan F if that is what your using. There are various types of pickle, I prefer to use Rittles Saftey Acid, or there are others out there to choose from. If you are using something to pickle with this is another problem some people experience. When mixing pickle you should mix enough for your cape. By this I mean some capes are bigger than other. I live in Illinois where deer tend to be a little bigger body wise. I mix more pickle than the directions call for to make sure there is enough acid for the skin. If you have a large cape and mix a smaller pickle the skin soaks up the acid and the ph rises which can cause the hair to slip. I never have a problem with my ph rising with the pickles I mix. I have left skins in the pickle for weeks, even months, with no variation. Anyway let me know and I will help you through. As for the cape it may be a loss already!
You mentioned salting it for for 24 hours - but you didnt say if you dried it afterwards! Did you? That's what will tighten the hair roots. Rushing it through to the pickle will not!