If I salt cure a calf or cow hide, will it stay soft to use it as a rug? How do I re-hydrate it? I've heard those terms. Will it stay soft after rincing all of the salt off? Thanks for the help.
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It will be hard as a brick when it dries.It will be soft after it is tanned. Salting is the first step of the tanning process after fleshing ofcorse.
It will shrink up and be wrinkled. Search with the orange button to find "tanning cow hides".
Best bet would be to send it to a commercial tannery.
Good Luck!
You have a lot to learn about tanning. Go to the library and do some reading about tanning. Do a search by using the orange button to the left.
But, to answer your questions, NO it will not be soft by salt curing. It will not stay soft after rinsing the salt off. I have seen hides tacked up in the garage, last for years, by salting only, but they were not soft. They will dry hard as a rock! For a soft leather, they will have to be completely tanned, there are no short cuts.