Green or fresh hide obtained after flaying contain water to the extent of about two third of there weightg from Fresh leather
Green or fresh hide obtained after flaying contain water to the extent of about two third of there weight
Objective
- to protect against putrefaction of hides by removal of water which help the growth of bacteria.
- by removing the adhering flesh
The adhering dust, dirt, and blood to the flayed hide should be washed cleaned with salt water and the excess water allowed to drain off before curing.
Curing methods
1. Wet Salting
Dehydration is carried out by means of homogeneous mixture of salts , chemicals and antiseptic agents to avoid development of red spot, hair clip, run flesh etc.
- Wash the hides and skin with cold water and drain off.
- Immediately apply a quantity of salt mixture(salt- 100 parts, naphthalene-1-2 parts, Sod. Bi carbonate/Boric Acid-(1-2 parts) which totally equals to the 40% of the weight of the skin or hide.
- Distribute it evenly over the flesh side and rub well into the hides and skin. Continue the process until a pile of 75 or 100 are attained . Pile the salted hide and skin with the flesh side upwards to drain off the excess from dehydration
- Curing period at least 10 days or even bigger
- Moisture is reduced from 60-70% to 40-505 , Wt. loss 10-20%,
- 13-17% of the salt is retained by the cured hide.
2. Dry Salting
Wash the wet salted hides and skin and spread out on the ground , flesh side up. Sprinkle a a solution of Sod. Phosphate on the flesh side and rub well by hand then dry and apply the second coat.
For cow and Buffalo hide – 10-132 coat.
Curing duration – 2-3 days
For skin – 4-6 days
Duration -One day.
3. Curing by drying
- Frame drying
- Ordinary drying
- Suspension drying.
a. Frame Drying
Hides are stretched out by tying them on rectangular wooden or bamboo frames. They are dried out under mild sun in the open yard
Wooden frames should be inclined so that only flesh side of the hide is exposed to the sun.
drying is done in the morning and in the afternoon , not in the mid day sun to prevent hardening of the flesh.
b. Ordinary drying
Spread out the hides on the ground and allow them to dry under the hot sun, this causes the hide to shrink and crumple up in drying. To avoid this hides are dried in the stretched conditioned using pegs hammer around the hides/ Skin.
c. Suspension Drying
The hides are suspended from a horizontal pole by tying the tail and hind legs to the pole and suspending the neck downwards. The neck portion of the hide is then drawn out from the vertical position by string which are fastened to the string are fixed down with pegs on the ground along the line of shadow of the horizontal pole . the flesh side is exposed to the sun. the frame or suspension method produce good quality of dry cured hides.