I had a customer bring in this cow hide that he had in the cooler at 39 degrees for three and a half weeks, needles to say it was a tad juicy, stunk and the hair was slipping with no effort at all, not to mention I had all dogs in town at my shop door. He wanted leather made out of this thing and I ended up just throwing it away! I have a good strong stomach but some things just go to far! My question to you is "How far spoiled can a hide be and still be tanned into Buckskin leather?" Thanks!
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A hide with hair slippage as you described would more than likely end up with a lot of bad grain. We see that now and then even with hides that are salt cured. Heat and dampness may cause the damage before the salt curing works. Once the hair starts falling out in the raw stage, a poor grain usually results. We will sometimes buff off the grain on bad hides and make a suede finish.
Thanks!