George
i spoke to you a week or so ago about hides that i had loose hair in after i tanned them. we discussed how i salted and pickled and all that stuff. after i talked to you i took some out o fthe freezer, as they thawed i brushed stop rot on them and as soon as they were thawed enough i fleshed the red meat off, split everything and salted them down using fine grained noniodized salt. I salted for 24 hrs with the capes laying on plywood with their heads elevated, then resalted next day and left for 24 more hrs. They were pretty dry and stiff aftre that. Then i washed in Kemal 4 and some basycrl and rinsed well. Then into a saftee acid pickle. 2 days in i remove and flesh and back in for 1 more day. I have used Mc Kenzie tan, liqua tan and lutan f and i am still seeing some loose hair and on 2 of them i had small spots behind one ear that the epidermos was actually seperating from the the underlying skin. What the hell am i doing wrong? This is really starting to suck! I know this last deer wasn't mishandled, i skinned it and froze it the same day it was killed. I'm afraid to do any more. I have city water and it shouldn't be a problem. I know your gonna give me hell, but would Krowtan be a possible answer since the hide is in the solution faster and maybe not giving the bacteria a chance to eat shorts.
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I think its the washing with the mix, why do you need to wash them? Thats the one step thats out of sequence!
Go from your salt directly into the pickle. I have never washed skin except while working for another taxidermist. We had a terrible time with hides slipping in his shop.
WHAT IS THE pH of the pickle 3.5 or lower!
It sounds like one of two things is causing the slippage.
Bacteria or high pH.
Give Krowtann-2000 a try I think you will see it saves you a lot of time and trouble.
Hey Dave give Krowtann a try its simple to use and does a very good job on all hides i have done. Deer, coons, minks,skunks,squirrels etc. have had not one problem a great choice to try. Good Luck ED
Dave the STOP-ROT treatment, along with the salting, and then into the Saftee Acid would have been sufficient to do the initial job of preparing your capes for tanning. Finish up with whatever you prefer.
The STOP-ROT and Saftee Acid combination has laid waste to any bacteria to the point that they are not going to be eating shorts or anything else. By the way, acids (used in taxidermy) by their very nature are either bactericides or bacteriastatics.
I believe I talked with you on the phone not a great length of time ago. If so, you have my number, feel free to use it again.
Glen