i have been pickling deer this year and found the hair to be tight all the way till i put the tanning cream on over night. when i mean tight i mean you grab a clump of hair and pull and only a strand or two come out. now my problem is the next day after the tanning cream has been apllied the hair gets looser for about 8 days, then starts to tighten back up as the hide drys. am i leaving the cream on too long. it seems like the cream weekends the stregth of the hair tightess. also will that hair that was loose but got tight as the hide dries stay tight over the life of the mount.
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In theory, tanning doesnt make hides slip. Some creams do a lot of things to skins before tanning occurs. Sometimes water isnt fully wicked away and builds up. I always felt that certain creams actually were "tenderizing" the cape. I didnt care for that too much.
The pickle acts as an astringent, but when neutralized, the hide relaxes or "stretches". Then you reapply an acid TAN to the hide and it leeches back into the opened pores. Now do you wonder why I never pickle a hide that I cream tan? No real point in it like John Rinehart advertised 25 years ago.
Now that implication would mean that submersible tanning would never slip. Not true either. Slippage is caused by bacteria and that can happen anytime acid is taken out of the equation.
And now, so did you. Tanning doesnt cause slippage. Bacteria can, though. I pickle, and use certain tans that I dont find weaken the skin or hair. I like them. Good luck which ever way you go.
I wonder if your capes aren't being left in a wet state too long. This will cause the hair to become loose and slippage can occur. I had a lot of trouble with this until I figured out what the problem was. I now roll the capes up in towels when I'm done tanning and oiling for an hour or so. I also Drum them in sawdust the next morning, and blow out the sawdust with an air gun. I don't have a caging drum. This is what works for me.
i agree the capes are probably wet too long. how long should it take to dry the neck area out. i have got capes on the head for 8 days at 70 degrees with fans. and they are still wet in the neck area. . i too role them in a towel after tanning and tumbel them with towels. should i let them hang for a day before mounting to try and get more of that water out?
You must live in a very humid area. Where I live it's fairly dry and capes dry out fast. I put a dehumidifier in my basement and this seems to help a lot. You might check into getting one of these. You could probably just let the oil or tanning cream soak in for a couple hours and then mount. I've just got in the habit of taking them out of my lutan-F solution and oiling the night before (mounting the next morning). Hope this helps...