So, I tried another couple of hides with MUCH better results at least as far as the smell goes. I think I ended up with a bit of hair slipping on one of the hides but they may have been related to my thawing method.
After the tanning step, my instructions I have say to mix oil and water and paint the hide and let it sweat for 4-6 hrs to absorb the oil. It doesn't say how to keep the hide during this process. Thinking it was a bit like "casing" a vegetable tanned hide for carving and not wanting them to dry out during the process, I stuck them in a plastic bag. Is this ok? Is there a better way to do this?
Also, would there be a problem with thawing the hide directly in the pickle? Take from the freezer and stick in the pickle frozen and then just keep an eye on the PH and stir?
Could an alum and salt pickle be used before a synthetic tan (in place of an acid pickle) or would it cause a bad reaction or keep the hide from talking up the tanning solution?
Thanks!
After the tanning step, my instructions I have say to mix oil and water and paint the hide and let it sweat for 4-6 hrs to absorb the oil. It doesn't say how to keep the hide during this process. Thinking it was a bit like "casing" a vegetable tanned hide for carving and not wanting them to dry out during the process, I stuck them in a plastic bag. Is this ok? Is there a better way to do this?
Also, would there be a problem with thawing the hide directly in the pickle? Take from the freezer and stick in the pickle frozen and then just keep an eye on the PH and stir?
Could an alum and salt pickle be used before a synthetic tan (in place of an acid pickle) or would it cause a bad reaction or keep the hide from talking up the tanning solution?
Thanks!