I've re-used a pickle now twice and the skins are coming out just fine.
I have also recharged a tan and used it twice and again the skins came out fine.
The key in being successful for re-use is to only add as much tan as you will use for that batch of skins, no more! So you never over-tan the next batch. I check pH and stir a lot.
The question is, just how long can I keep this up before the salt or other chemicals in the solutions, like bacteriacide or stop-rot, are depleted?
Should I be replenishing stop-rot, salt, acid bate, etc. per batch?
I have fifty skins ready to go into pickle usage # 3 tonight.
I'm on septic system so re-use is my only option, can't pour them down the drain.
Return to Tanning Category Menu
Let me get this straight. You're on a septic system that you're afraid to dump neutralized acid into and you have FIFTY HIDES TO BE TANNED? Are you nuts? Why would you get yourself into such a situation in the first place?
Now my suggestion to you is (1) find a new hobby or (2) salt your hides and send them to a professional tannery. You keep screwing around like that and the EPA is going to put you on the Superfund Site list. You'd better find a legal place to dispose of all the crap you have sitting around right now or you could be in really big trouble.
i have a friend that is a large taxi and tanner - this is how he handles it for years
neutralize your solution you can pour it out on the ground. I bring the ph up to what my water is coming out of my well and then pour.
I had to write an environmental impact statement to the state ecology department about 12 years back and this method of disposal was acceptable to them. I've been doing it since and I'm on septic and well.
Remember, neutralizing the solution is very important!
> FIFTY HIDES TO BE TANNED? Are you nuts? Why would you get yourself into such a situation in the first place?
Because right now I'm not at the septic place. I currently have the luxury of being able to tan in 2 workshops. One in the present and one in the future. All is not what it seems Mr. Omniscient Seer.
Who made the grandiose assumption above that just because 50 skins was a 'big' number, that meant a big tanning job? What if I said the 50 skins were mice? Voles? Would I be "as" crazy, "more" crazy, or "less" crazy? If the skins were tiny? The skins are not mice or voles, in fact they are bigger then arctic foxes, but... numbers ain't everything folks.
The skins are doing quite well in the pickle # 3. They have not slipped and the leather side is whitening very nicely.
I want to make sure they have enough Stop-Rot, Acid Bate, etc. on them though. I'm watching.
Again: My question is... How often do I need to replenish the Stop-Rot, Bacteriacide, Degreasers, Acid Bate? In the pickle? After each batch or after a set amount of time, 1 month, 2 months, etc. The question isn't really "can I re-use", I already have done it twice with a different specie each time, and it's fine as I check pH and use only good skins.
Theory behind question: I need to know the take-up rate of these chemicals into the skins (or air) and also the replenishment rate in solution. It's a question for chemists and tanners. Such as, the syntan skin uptake is 22% but uptake from solution is 95%, meaning I always have to replenish solution with "full amount" of tan, give or take 2%. I would think these rates are different based on species, age of animal at killing, and skin thickness or "wet drained weight".
If you are as clueless about the answer as I am, don't answer!
This is not covered in the archives so I have to ask.
I am not concerned about disposal. It is easy, but heavy. Dump into Kitty litter & landfill that. Just like a chrome tan.
Do not want to dump all that salt into septic or on the ground (okay, in the winter the salt will be good!)
i know the acid bate you are referring too is most likly an enzyme. it is not really a chemical. it works as long as there is greese molicules to attacked. then it dies. it will not hurt to add more after stirring etc. except the wallet. your septic system will benefit from the enzyme use as well. keep checking your ph is a good idea. i have a friend tanner that puts his used pickel in a giant steel bin and waits for the water to evaporate. then he reuses the salt.
happy moms day!
e
i know the acid bate you are referring too is most likly an enzyme. it is not really a chemical. it works as long as there is greese molicules to attacked. then it dies. it will not hurt to add more after stirring etc. except the wallet. your septic system will benefit from the enzyme use as well. keep checking your ph is a good idea. i have a friend tanner that puts his used pickel in a giant steel bin and waits for the water to evaporate. then he reuses the salt.
happy moms day!
e
I suppose you're right and you could be tanning flea hides, but then you wouldn't have a disposal problem WOULD YOU? If you're so damned smart, again, why didn't you think about it before you began. The acid can surely be neutralized with baking soda, BUT the Stop Rot and the bacteriacide are two separate but important considerations. THERE IS NO WAY TO KNOW HOW POTENT THEY ARE. If you'd had simple biology and chemistry lessons in high school, you'd understand that those two chemicals absorb into hides at an immeasurable rate. Some take more, some less than others. IF you were to dump them into your septic, the bacteriacide would likely kill your sediment field. Let me know what land fill you dumped your chrome tan in and I'll see if I can get you an education a little faster.
I am glad you provided one definitive statement in your little spiel. "I don't have a clue...." seems quite prophetic.
He always has a smart assed answer for everything. IGNORE ANYTHING THAT COMES OUT OF HIS FACE !