Ive looked through the forums but havent found anything about this, i dont know if im just missing some part of tanning completely or what, but i dont know why i have to salt and dry my skins if im just going to have to rehydrate the skin in order to tan it. Thanks for your time.
Smith
Return to Tanning Category Menu
It has been talked about time and time again. The salt leaches out protiens and undesireable liquids in the skin. It helps preserve the hide and set the hair. If you hit the search button and type salt you will find lots of info. E-mail Bruce Rittel and I am sure he will give you advice about the salting process.
Todd B
Sorry you missed it in the archives as I've always been in total agreement with you. The only reason for drying a hide "bone dry" in my opinion is for long term storage. I ALWAYS salt overnight ONCE only and I don't bury my hides in salt like some do. I also ship my hides to commercial tanneries as soon as they stop dripping. Once the water is removed from a hide, it serves little purpose in my opinion. The ONLY hides I ever rehydrate are those that I have dry tanned, such as for rugs. When I'm tanning myself, they go directly into the pickle the day they stop dripping. I've yet to have a problem and I've been doing this all week. LOL
thanks for the feedback