Purpose of Pickling?

Hey greenhorn welcome and to answer about oil is two fold, to aid in shrinkage and also to make a subtle hide.

You can find a lot about this in the archives if you just type in what your looking for, Sometimes it's hardtop find and if so that's why were here.

Yes after the pickle, it is in a preserved state, till it's neutralized and tanned. Never let a pickle hide dry hard if anything always keep in the pickle or freeze it till you can work on it.

 

Pickling of the skin does a couple things, changes the electric charge of the atoms there by setting them up to contract a bond with tanning agents, also separates out the non- collagens and loosens up the crosslinks in the lattice(fibers), in other words opens up the fibers. The oiling process after the tanning agent is applied is to lube the crosslink fibers, so they slide over each other keeping the skins soft and pliable after the breaking process, if not lubed with oil the skin would dry out and the cross link fibers would stick together, making the skin dry out hard and stiff and would crack along with increased shrinkage and no stretch.

 

Of all the tanning I have done, the ones that are pickled first always come out much better.

 

You haven't done any "tanning" if they weren't pickled first !!!

DP