Bruce,Its been my experience that when moisture levels are up,(Humidity) that my old stand by of 2 days in the salt become four or 5 days just to get the same results.Would you please comment on this.Thank you so very much for all the help you give us.Larry
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But it's fairly a simple thought here. When we salt hides it does a few things. One of the main reasons is that it draws moisture from the hide. This helps dry it out quicker. Now with high humidity the salt is drawing the moisture from the air. Making your air dryer in a sence LOL. So that why it takes longer to dry your hides, more humity the loger it takes. Also a good salted hide rehydrates much faster than one that is air dried, reason it's sucking up the moisture.
Take Frank's advice. I'm a great believer in salt DRYING skins and capes before they are tanned. Obviously if you normally do 2 days in the Salt and then dry them - it must be in an area of low humidity - usually. However this can change - and especially in the winter when melting snow or rain drives up the moisture in the air. Investing in a de-humidifier will really speed up this process! I recommend it! Or -even Air Conditioners help - since they also dry out the room's moisture content in order to cool the air. Have you noticed them - they usually have to mounted on a slant and they drip water during hot summer months?