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Salt problem

Discussion in 'Tanning' started by rice194, Apr 28, 2009.

  1. Apr 28, 2009 #1
    rice194

    rice194 Member

    187
    0
    Bloomingdale, Ohio
    My local feed store switched the type of salt on me again. They said it was cheaper. Anyway it's course instead of fine. I had a cape completely thawed out and by time I realized it was different the feed store was closed so I read the bag and it said 99% salt 39% sodium Champions choice mix n fine. So I went ahead and salted the cape and it's now drying. I thought I better try and mix a pickle and see if it affected the ph. Man did it ever. When I mix my pickles the ph is always around 1.0 to 1.5 this was well over 3. I went back to the feed store and had to special order the right salt. Anyway my Question is how will the cape that I salted be affected? I rehydrate my capes with plain water and relaxer. I'm worried that when I rehydrate the cape that the salt on the cape will raise the ph so high that it might slip and also effect the ph in the pickle. Any suggestions would be helpful.
     
  3. Apr 28, 2009 #2
    Bruce_Rittel

    Bruce_Rittel Consultant Services

    965
    37
    Raynham MA 02767
    When you relax that cape - afterwards, and before pickling, do a "quick" wash on it. Not a soak, but only a brief wash to remove as much as possible of the salt's influence on it. Use a commercial washer or Dish detergent like Dawn. Be sure to rinse it well before adding it to the pickle.

    As for that pickle - add more acid to compensate for the high pH. However, sometimes it requires so much acid to drop it - it's not worth it. Instead, I prefer to mix a new pickle.