I believe it was last year when we were advised of a new Lutan F (N) mixture of 2 oz Lutan F to every 6 oz salt to every 1 gallon of water. I have to add tons more Lutan F to get a PH of 4 to stick(probably at least a cup for an 8 gallon mixture). What gives? My salinometer reading stands at about 20%. Is it still important to have about a PH of 4 for Lutan F to be successful?
Some people say to add acid (instead of Lutan F) to lower the PH in a tanner, but I haven't been brave enough to do that. ;-) Any thoughts on that too?
Kristi
p.s. - this forum is awesome.
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When adjusting your PH - providing you followed the formula for mixing Lutan F (2 ozs. of Lutan F, 6 Ozs. of Salt - to each 1 gallon of Water)- use either an Acid to lower the PH, or an Alkaline like Sodium Bicarbonate (Baking soda) to raise it. Adding more Lutan F is not the way to adjust. Also - always add the Baking Soda to water and dissolve it before adding it to your solution. Never put a powder directly into the solution. As for Acid - I often dip out some of my pickling solution and add it to the tanning solution. Either way - use small amounts as sometimes even a little bit can change the PH drastically!
Do I need to rush home and dump out the solution? Or should I be safe this time?
Kristi
Kristi, I just weighed a cup of Lutan-F and it weighs approximately
5 ounces. That gives you less then an ounce per gallon of solution. With the 2oz. per gallon mix you could use 16 ounces with the 8 gallons of water and be safe. You may want to up it - soon - then let stand for 30 minutes then adjust the PH to between 3.5 and 4 using the methods Bruce described. Don't be afraid to used the acid to lower the PH. I use Saftee Acid in very small amounts and check every 5 minutes until it's where it needs to be. Good luck.
Glenn
Since I added extra Lutan F to get a lower PH level, I'm concerned about the effects of having too much tanner. I think you thought that I only had 5 ounces of tanner, when in fact I have probably 21 ounces per 8 gallons of water, instead of 16. What do you think that would do?
Kristi
Well, the deer was a success, but next time I'll use acid to lower PH. Thanks...
Kristi
The worst scenario is that you simply wasted the extra Lutan F that was added. Otherwise - the capes or skins should tan and as you added above - that was the case! In the future though - obviously the Acid or Baking soda is much cheaper and is the preferred way to adjust the PH.