Tanning some hair-off deer hides in a clear plastic tote. The washing soda seems to settle to the bottom. So the top half is clear and the bottom half cloudy. In the instructions it says to mix a couple times each day.

Question: Does the washing soda attribute to the tan or is it strictly to raise the ph? My ph is stable around 4. I am mixing the solution, just curious how important it is to not have the washing soda settle.

Thanx!!!

FYI: Just did a bunch of rats and they came out awesome. After the deer hides, then I have 20 Beaver and some otter that will be tanned.

I can't offer any insight into your question, but I am happy to hear that the method is working out for you.

I'd be real curious to see pictures of the deer hides when they are done.

Any chance you'll be at the WI convention?

Hi k snow. If things work out around the house, I'll be hitting the convention right away Saturday morning. I'm not planning on hitting any demos. Just check things out and pick up some supplies. Deer hides turn out really nice and soft without much effort. I'll run them against a cable a bit. Then neck section will be a bit stiff without some working or thinning, but the rest is pretty soft with just a bit of pulling and scrunching. Just make sure you get as much if not all of the grain scraped off. I'll do what I can when I'm scraping the hair, but I'll do another scraping after they've been in the pickle for several days.