I thought I had enough Saftee Acid on hand for one more elk cape. After about an hour I checked the ph and it had risen to about 4. I ordered more saftee acid today. Am I playing with fire at this point? Is there anything I can/should do while I wait?
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Thats all
John is right. To let it sit in the pickle at such a high PH will ruin it! Take it out - drain it for 30 minutes and then freeze it until you recieve the new acid.
However - something is wrong. Why would it go so high? Normally the highest I've had it go is to a 1.8 PH. Unless - you didnt rinse the cape well after rehydrating it, and you carried over some of the relaxing solution. This is especially likely if you used Joy or Dawn to relax it with. They usually require heavy rinsing.
Thank You John and Bruce. I really don't know how this happened. I fleshed and double salted just like I have been doing with great success. I did not rinse the cape at any time though-just threw it in the pickle after drying. I do know that this is an early elk, but I don't know for sure how the customer handled it. Could their handling have anything to do with it? I rehydrate in a salt water solution only.
Alot of 50 pound bags of salt have yellow prussiate of soda added as an anti clumping agent. I've read that this can effect pH but I'm not sure to what extent. Anyone here know to what degree it will cause pH to raise. I too have to continue to check the pH of my pickle for an hour or two until it is stable. My tanning solution (EZ100) also needs pH monitoring until it is considered to be stable. Any input from anyone with a chemistry background?
Sometimes guys rub in Borax as they skin or flesh. It plays hell later with your pickle's PH if they do. When I see guys doing it I always ask them to switch to sawdust instead. Also I wouldnt recommend throwing a dried skin or cape into the pickle to relax it. The pickle is intended to "firm" the skin for shaving - not relax it!
The Yellow Prusiate of soda they now seem to use in Salt as an anti clumping agent wont cause much of a problem - but - be aware of it because it will very slightly raise the PH of your solutions.