I read a post that stated it set the hair to salt and let the cape dry hard. I have been trying to do this with two elk capes. I have shook off the wet salt and applied fresh 3 days in a row now. I pulled on the hair down where it will be trimed off and found a little will come out. Is this noral and I shouldn't pull or is something going wrong.If so is there anything I can do to fix it.I applied a whole bottle of stop rot on each after they thawed.While I was turning.
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Salt till dry will not lock hair in. It will dry and shrink up and tighten down on the hair roots and seam tight, but when you rehydrate the capes back to a wet state, the hair is loose again. The only reason to dry it rock hard is if you want to store it for latter, and you don't have room in the freezer. It is easier to ship to the tanner this way also.
You can pull on any hair before it is hanging on the wall finished, and it will pull out. So don't pull on it. You can pull on any wet hide and the hair will come out. One purpose of the salt is to take out the body juices before it gets to the pickle. The less body juices in the cape, the less body juice the pickle has to kill off. You should be safe with the stop rot. You did the salting in a cool basement I hope, and not where it is hot or warm.
Your problem seems to be the humidity in your shop! And I beg to differ from Mr. t's opinion about salting and drying - in all my experience salting and drying definitely sets the hair or fur roots tight! Otherwise what would be the purpose in drying them before processing them if you had a Tannery? Are they wasting their time - or do they want a 99.9% success ratio? Besides drawing out the liquids from a cape - the salt also promotes rapid drying - but low humidity helps the drying process. Do you have a Dehumidifier in your shop? It helps dry things quickly - not just hides - but mounts as well!
Yes - you will be rehydrating the capes later - but the tightness you achieve by drying first will not allow the rehydration to open up the roots of the hair folicals. They stay tight and ensure that the piece can be tanned successfully.
Even skins and capes that appear "bad" can be saved using this technique! Dont bother with the auxiliary products - simply salt and dry them! I've seen many so called "bad" skins successfully make it through the tanning process - simply by salting and drying them first!
You choose! However I have worked with many Tanneries and before you dismiss the idea of salting and drying - talk to them! Drying them first is a simple and easy way to ensure success! It works! They do 1000 to 2000 capes as compared to a Taxidermy Shop processing only 150-200 capes! If they want to achieve a 99.9% success rate - wouldnt you?
check your e-mail.
Glen Conley
Auxillary Product Developer
i wont do a deer without stop rot first
ive seen to much
and lost too much
and seen the difference
no one can convince me this stuff is not for real
nothing against salt but ive seen things this year that salt
WONT DO! period