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[Luke]

My understanding is that bacteria growth is the biggest risk for hair slippage.  I'm tanning a cowhide in an 20 gallon immersion salt/alum solution and may not be ready with oil for 8-9 days.  Can I add a few teaspoons of bleach towards the end to reduce that risk?  Could that harm the process or change the Ph to a more basic solution, causing other problems?   Maybe I should just change the solution at some point, or even change over to the paste method after 5-7 days or if it starts looking/smelling funky? 

Also, I'm pretty sure I fleshed it well enough (12+ hours with a very sharp axe blade and serious elbow grease), but I feel it probably could have used just a bit more.  Will it be obvious if this is a problem at some point? 

Thanks so much for your help thus far!
Luke

[The Tanner]

The main cause of hair slippage is caused by not preserving the hair follicle.  Once the hide is fleshed it should be salted asap so that the salt can pull the moisture out and lock in the hair follicle.

When initially fleshing the hide make sure to remove anything over 1/4" thick which will prevent the salt from penetrating.  It doesn't have to be pristine.  Cover the hide with salt.  A fresh cow usually requires about 50lbs.  Let it set for 3-30 days depending on when you have time to start the tanning process.

Re-soak the hide.  Any flesh remaining on the hide is now much easier to remove.

20 gallons doesn't seem like enough to submerge a cowhide unless it is a smaller hide.  Usually a cow requires around 50-55 gallons of water with 15-20 lbs of tanning crystals.  A solution requires more crystals than the paste.

The salt should prevent most bacteria growth, but I wouldn't leave it immersed for the entire time.  If you have to wait so long to oil the hide just pull it from the solution and thoroughly cover it with plastic so that is doesn't dry out.  If you leave it soaking the entire time it will begin to smell.

[Luke]

Well, I pulled my hide out of the solution today (8.5 days in the bath, Stephen told me on the phone that that length of time wouldn't matter), unfortunately I didn't check back on your website for this response.  that's a real bummer because the hair is slipping in some places with the thinner skin close to the udder area, and seems to be pretty easy to pull out of other areas.  i didn't mess with it too much, but have tacked it down and oiled it.  Any suggestions to keep the hair in more?  I'm thinking maybe if I leave the hide especially slack on the board, it can shrink a bit more and maybe hold those hairs in better? 

I'm really disappointed to see the hair slipping.  I don't imagine the hair is going to weather the staking and sanding process, or will just shed all over the place after I'm done...  Any help? 

[The Tanner]

I don't think the length of time you left it in the solution caused the hair slippage.  I think it has more to do with how the hide was taken care of before the tanning process began.  It can be many factors... The hide got too warm after skinning, not enough salt was placed on the hide, hide wasn't fleshed well enough before salt was applied, or the hide wasn't cured in the salt long enough.

At this point, stretching it won't really affect hair slippage.  I would concentrate on getting a flat hide.  Since you are using the tanning oil you won't need to stake this hide and sanding while still tacked to the board doesn't damage the hair.

If you get it fully tanned with out losing too much hair it should be alright. 

[Luke]

You mention not needing to stake the hide, but your booklet calls for what it calls the equivalent of staking, saying to run the rounded part of the scraper perpendicular to the hide down the hide stretching it and softening it after the oil has dried for 24-48 hours.  Is that not necessary?

[The Tanner]

You can stake the hide with the rounded side of the scraper but the oil makes the process much easier and you don't have to work as hard as with out the oil.