Can anyone tell me the proper way to rehydrate a cape. Do you add salt to solution or other ? It seems to me if you rehydrate a cape your defeating the purpose of salting if your going to put back the moisture into the cape through hydration.
yes you add salt. Some chose to rehydrate. I put hides straight into the pickle and have not had any slippage in a lot of years.
Clifftax,
It isn't as simple as rehydrating defeating the purpose of salting.
The salting process allows your skin to dry completely, which locks
the hair and helps prevent slippage during the tanning process.
it also removes FLUIDS from the skin--not just water. so you get alot of nasty stuff out of there, which will lead to a cleaner, more problem-free skin later.
hope that clarifies some.
Dave
when I do salt I never get the hides rock hard. I resalt several times but I see no additional fluid draing from the capes after I salt a second time. Is this normal. Ive tried different room temp settings but am afraid to get to warm.
Clifftax, In reference to your last question, it is important to let your skins dry until hard. Like Dave and John said, it "sets" the hair tightly. I have found that during the second salting, lay the skin on some type of a rack to get air to circulate all around the skin. This will help dry it a little faster. As far as the heat goes, I've salted skins in hot weather, I set a box fan up and let it circulate the air. No problems. Good luck.