June 9, 2011

Trimming

A square approximately 9"x9" was trimmed from the large hide.

A square approximately 3"x3" was cut from the large hide for testing purposes.

Resalting
Excess wet salt was scraped from the hide.

550 g of NaCl was added to the large hide.
450 g of NaCl was added to the small hide.

Soaking
The 3"x3" test strip was placed in distilled water for 24 hours to remove blood and salt.

The solution had a pH of 7.5 when the piece of hide was removed.

Liming
An NaOH solution was made by combining 200 mL of H₂O with 2 g of NaOH. The pH of this solution was 10. The 3"x3" test piece was placed in this solution at 1:45 pm. 

Due to the high pH of the solution, the hide was checked for progress at 6:30 pm; however, the hair was still firmly attached to the hide at this time. 

June 7, 2011

Trimming

The hides were removed from the refrigerator and laid flat on the table.

Unwanted animal material such as hooves, heads, and other organs were trimmed from the hide with a hunting knife. Some unwanted muscle and fat tissue were removed from the flesh side of the hide.

Salting

1000g of NaCl was placed on the large hide to cure it. 500g of NaCl was placed on the small hide. The hides were transfered to a wooden board and tilted to drain. They were then covered with a piece of foam and left to dry and drain for two days. 

June 6, 2011

The hides were taken out of the freezer to defrost. After several hours, the hides were placed in the refrigerator to continue defrosting over night.

June 5, 2011

Two goat hides were obtained from Sudlersville Frozen Meat Locker, a butchery in Sudlersville, Maryland. Sudlersville is located approximately an hour from Newark, Delaware (where the University of Delaware is located). Goat hides were chosen for this project because their hides are thinner than those of cows and pigs and therefore tan quicker. We considered local hides to be more desirable than hides that could be obtained online because they did not have to be shipped and because the treatments done to the hides could be more easily obtained. The hides were frozen to preserve them for the weekend.

These are the hides we received from Sudlersville Frozen Meat Locker.