I take off excess meat, then freeze. Thaw out, wash hide with Dawn and Lysol disinfect,then put in pickle ( safety acid, 1 pound salt per 1 gallon water, ph to 1 or 1.5) for 3 days. Then take out and shave hide, put back in pickle for 1 day. Take out and neutralize(1oz of baking soda per gallon of water) for 30 minutes, take out, rinse with cold water, dry fur side with blower, lay out brush on McKenzie Tan, leave on for 5 hours. then freeze until ,mounting. I have done this for many hides but lately I have been experiencing hair loss on chest and neck areas. Does anyone have answers for me.
Thank You Jerry
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is it "melted" off? doe's it look "broke" off? Doe's the hair have skin on it?
What I am trying to say is, There is a lot of things that can happen to a hide during tanning. If you do some dectective work you can usaly tell what is going on. Yes salting may help "set" the hair and cure your problem. But it could be more than that! Joe
your problem is that when your are fleshing your cape, you are cutting too deep and exposing the roots of the hair, allowing it to fall out.
Bruce Rittel sent me an email and said absolutely no more than 20 minutes. It may be causing problems in the thinner areas of skin. Just a guess.
Along with my ? I was wondering if the type of water I use has anything to do with this Hard or soft? Could there be a problem fleshing with a wire wheel? And I use Boeax to help scape off meat on the hides before the pickle. Again it only happens in areas. Rinse Borax off before pickle. Is there a better tanning process out there?
Thanks Jerry
now i cant say for sure
but ive had fewer problems not washing the hides up front
i can say for sure if you use the stop rot up front and salt immediately after skinning that might help
also if your hand fleshing with a scalple you may be taking to long
are you wearing gloves as the heat from your hands wont help
the stop rot will help you with this also
email me if you want specifics
Stop using the borax too.
Seems like every one wants to give advice on how to help but does not want to hit the water question.
Soft water will help! You will use less acid in your pickle and it should take less time. The use of borax is like a ticking time bomb! as is the use of dawn and lysol. In tanning we are allways trying to maintain a lower ph. Pickle should be less than two (2) and tanning vats should run around 3.5-4. When you start adding higher ph items like soaps, then add hard water to boot. You make it very dificult to maintain a good ph in both the pickle and tan.
My advice is, crap can the soaps! There are better products on the market! Try to use something with a lower ph (super solvent, blood out, or Fat-b-gone)
crap can the borax! Use sawdust or salt to get a better grip and help dry out the membrane and meat.
Check your ph of the pickle about 2hrs after the hides have been added. And recheck every day. Try to keep the ph at less than two!
If you do this, The hard water should not be a concern.
Joseph R Osborn (Hunter's Dream Taxidermy)
BTW, Paul, John, and 9 Fingers all have very valid points! Javier could be right, but not without seeing the hide first.
the borax must go! do you check your ph after your cape is in the pickel? all these additives your using can be eliminated! and they will absolutly affect the ph if not washed out completely. there are sustances made specifically for this industry that will not affect your ph in a big way. get rid of the dish soap! if you prefer washing your capes and skins in a detergent get some kemal-4 from Knoblochs, a quart will go a long way and maintain low ph, the supersolvant works great for removeing blood and heavy grease also. dawn is for dishes! lysol is for toilets and trash cans! now how much are you saving when your loosing capes?
Wire wheel fleshing is deffenetly not the problem unless you are holding your cape in 1 spot for to long as you shave off the excess red meat. I v'e been useing the wire wheel methoud for a couple years. and have only had 1 problem with hair slippage. and it wasnt the wire wheels fault. it was because the guy that brought me the cape wanted to show it off for 2 days in 70 degree weatherand you can emagin the rest of the story.Plain and simple my oppinion is your using way to many steps to just get a cape mounted. . I simply cape right away. and wash right away in cold water. and dawns antibacterial. soap with a table spoon of oxy clean. for 15 minutes.I then rinse clean and tumble for 15 minutes. Now the cape is nice and thickened. then I go to the wire wheel. nock the cape out and turn everything that needs turned.. split the ears. and remove the ear butts. Dry preserve, and mount.But thats just 1 way to doit. Best of luck. Ray