Lots of Hides didn't stand up to tanning solution

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Well I was SO pleased with myself the last few times that I butchered.
Instead if putting the hides on stretcher bars and hanging to dry,
I just tossed them into a 5 gallon bucket filled with this solution
- 1 plastic 5 gallon bucket
- 2 lbs. rock salt (or any cheap salt)
- 8 oz. battery acid (from auto-supply store)
- stick or wooden spoon for stirring
- a scrubbed brick or rock

the recipe that I have says that you can leave them up to a year.
It's only been a month or two since I started the process.
Today I thought I would try to scrape some and see what I had.
I used tongs to remove the hides, one at a time, from the bucket.
The SMELL was pretty rank :cry:
I used a hose to rinse the solution off of each hide as I pulled it out
I had several buckets and at least 3 dozen hides. I began to notice
that there was A LOT of loose fur floating in the bucket and when
I tested each hide, many of them just "let go" of the fur. It came off in clumps.
I figure that those hides are a total loss and won't be worth working.

I'm not sure what made the difference and why some hides seemed to hold up
and others didn't.
I'd appreciate any experienced tanners giving me some tips.

After rinsing well, I hung the "loosers" in the clothes line to let them dry out a bit.
I thought that they would at least make dog treats. My husband is concerned that the
chemicals will poison the dogs. I figured that enough water had diluted the acid.
I was able to handle the hides after rinsing without my skin feeling anything
but I would appreciate input on this too.
 
You don't say how much water you used in the mix. Either the solution was too weak or the hides didn't get sufficiently moved around daily to keep them fully saturated in it. A weak solution or folds in the hides can allow bacteria to gain a foothold causing the hair to slip out. If the skins are still intact you can make some very fine leather from them. Another thing to remember is to keep them cool. Warmth not only causes bacteria to grow faster but causes hides to shed just like on live animals.
 
I have never heard of leaving hides in these home solutions longer than a week. This article talks about use with battery acid and a possible cause for your problem.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-H ... Hides.aspx
he problem I encounter most often is hairslip: bare patches that appear as the fur pulls or slips off the leather. This condition, which is also called taint, results from the growth of bacteria on the outer skin (decay) and usually occurs in folds and wrinkles, where the surface wasn't exposed to the tanning solution. It can be prevented if you stir the pelts around in the solution frequently and make sure that the liquid comes in contact with all parts of each hide. Take care, too, that the brine ingredients are dissolved and mixed well before adding the skins. Finally, don't store the pelts in the solution at temperatures over 80°. If hairslip does afflict a pelt or two, however, you can trim away the damaged sections when constructing garments or other articles.

Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Modern-H ... z1mnnDOGoh

If you had too many hides per bucket, did not dissolve things well, did not stir well, did not stir at least twice a day, etc... some hides could have not been exposed properly and rotted.
 
Sorry to hear that not all turned out as well as expected. I hope you get some that turn out well.

I don't have time to check out the links right now (early day tomorrow), but I recall when reading about the battery acid method, it said not to use "cased" hides. I assume this is because with an intact hide (not split down the belly) that the solution can't get everywhere, causing the bacterial growth and hair slip. How bacteria can grow in battery acid is a mystery to me, though.

I too plan on using this method, so hopefully we'll figure out the problem before it is my turn! If not, and I have failures, at least we can compare notes. Or cry on each others shoulders at least.
 
Well I just love how much help and information this group has/shares. Yes I left the hides in tubes, and I didn't stir them twice a day, and one bucket was next to the hot water heater [we have an unheated house] because the directions said the process works best at 70 degrees & I thought that was my best chance.
Next batch I start will be less crowded. I'm infamous for trying to cram too much into a small space [leftover dinner, rabbits in the barn, stuff I'm mailing, you name it] I left as tubes on purpose because I had read that it was easier to flesh them on a fleshing bar [don't have one yet but thought my husband would like another wood working project now that he's finished rehanging all those cages]
Guess I'll see how the ones that didn't have slip work.
 
I would not take a chance on giving the hides to the dogs. The chemicals will have worked their way into the cells of the skins and no amount of washing will remove them. You might consider removing all the fur and using them as leather, if the appearance of the skins seems to be attractive.
 
What you're describing is a pickle and not a tan. Tanning is normally something that comes after the pickling process. It is true that hides can be stored almost indefinitely in a pickle solution as long as a few simple rules are followed. Salt / brine solution is roughly 1 lb salt per gallon of water. It also helps if the hides are salted prior to placing in the pickle to allow removal of fluids in the hide. If salted dry, the hide should be rehydrated in water with a handful of salt added. The pickle solution needs to be maintained at a ph of 2.5 or less. Hides when initially added will absorb acid thereby raising the ph of the solution. The addition of more acid to the solution is required to lower and maintain it at the appropriate level. As others have stated - occasional stirring, and being sure the hides stay submerged are also parts of the process. Good luck..
 

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