Saltwater soak?

[Deleted member 40394]

So one of the outfits I am considering uses a saltwater soak for short time while slitting eyes, etc Is this ok?

 

[BRICKBURN]

I understand your concern as it was a new concept to me.
Salt Brine and some Detol in the solution was used for an over night soaking.
It helped clean the blood from the cape.

My Eland cape was fine.

 

[Ty Howard]

My skinners did that and all hides are perfect

 

[PaulT]

When I was processing a lot of buff capes, in a warm climate, a proper brine was always used.

Our process was,
We would concentrate on getting the cooled-off cape back to camp as soon as possible.
The cape was then care fully washed, fresh water, on the fur side, and pressure blasted on the skin side.
Any foreign material, blood and dirt removed.

The cape was then submerged in to the brine.
The brine tub was a plastic 60 ltr drum cut sideways.

The brine mix was;
salt added, by handful and dissolved until the point reached when the salt would not dissolve any further.
That was "saturation" point.

A cape kept in a drum in this brine, sealed, in the shade
and in a cool place can, and will, last, safely, for several weeks.

They, the capes, are also much better to work with after they have had time in a good brine.

I would leave mine overnight, sometimes longer and never lost a cape.

 

[Nyati]

Last year, I was hunting in Kimberley, and went up to the Kalahari with a friend to hunt a lion. After skinning, the skin was placed in a plastic container, immersed in a saline solution and that is how we transported it to the taxidermist back in Kimberley.