I accidently bought some "dirty salt"! I'm rinsing the cape in clean water after taking it out of the pickle to shave it, but can't seem to get all the dirt out. Do you think the dirt will dull the new blade on my fleshing machine? Thanks...John
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dirty salt? Where do they sell that? Don't you have tunning steels to touch up the blade anyway? Put the old blade back on if you can sharpen the edge enough to rough cut the dirt off. Or,use the new blade, you will be cutting underneath the dirt and lifting it off. But it will not trash a new blade unless the dirty cape looks like the floor matt out of your truck.
Bought it at a farm supply store, in a blue bag. Usually I get it in a green bag, its clean. Try not to make that mistake again! Thanks for your reply Mr. T. I'll go ahead and use it.
If Clem is out, Champion's Choice Mixing Salt is available at some co-ops and farm stores. It is a mined salt, and it is "dirty", BUT you will probably see a noticeable difference in actions on fats, and the slimy membrane called the hypodermis. The look and feel of the leather is also a little different to the positive side.
The discoloration that you are probably getting does shave off to a white leather underneath. The membrane does seem to shave off a little easier also.
I've taken a couple of shots at trying to sort out the "why?" in the difference in performance. Either organics or mineral is the obvious answer, but darn, we've got a whole planet that is full of organics and mineral combinations. I struck out on this one on about three different occasions.
Just work with it like you would any other salt.