Lye for slipping hair question.

[Morgan]

I have some liquid clog remover that says it consists of 18-28% lye and water. Anyone know how much I should add in a 5 gal bucket to slip the hair on one deer hide?

[Outbackbob48]

Morgan, when using wood ashes(lye) it is recommended to get to a strength that would make an egg float in solution, I have always heard that it should float an egg to about the dia. of a quarter. Actually just plain water will make hair slip in less than a few days especially if warm. Lye makes  the grain or epidermis of your hide swell for easier removal both physically and also visually. Not sure if that helped or not. Hair slippage is a controlled rot, the warmer the water the quicker it will slip and also start to rot. Hope this helped. Bob

[aaron]

I have not used drain opener for this and i dont know if it's the same as lye, but if it is, here's how you'd find the correct mix: put about a gallon of water in a bucket and put an egg in there. add some lye and observe the egg. look at the part above water- it should be about the size of a quarter. if its floating too high in the water, add lye. if it's floating too low, add water. adjust until the egg barely floats, with a quarter-sized bit above water.
or, go to your local wood-fired pizza place and ask for their ashes. remove the charcoal and use the fine white ash.

[Morgan]

Thanks guys, I’m gonna put the hide in tomorrow and I’ll try the egg thing. The stuff I bought I chose specifically because it is just lye and water, no other ingredients listed on the label or on the msds for it.

[aaron]

oops, I made a mistake in my post above. here's what I should have said:
if the egg sinks, add lye.
If the egg floats too high or floats on its side, add water.

so, basically you put in the egg and add lye until it floats just barely.

[DC]

Some drain cleaner has ground aluminum in it. It reacts with the lye and makes bubbles. I guess the idea is to stir up the clog. Anyway I don't know if the aluminum will affect the tanning.

[Morgan]

Some drain cleaner has ground aluminum in it. It reacts with the lye and makes bubbles. I guess the idea is to stir up the clog. Anyway I don't know if the aluminum will affect the tanning.

This stuff is just lye and water.

[Hawkdancer]

I use garden lime, about 3# to 20-25 gallons of water.  Not so caustic as lye.  Then wash hide with pure Ivory soap, bar not liquid.  I take them to a laundromat and use the heavy duty machine.  You can also dry scrape the hair, but that is a lot of work.
Hawkdancer