II.

Curing

The raw materials used by the leather industry originate largely as by-products of the meat-packing industry. Before entering the tanning process, the raw skins are “cured” by salting or drying them promptly after being removed from the slaughtered animal. The more common methods used in curing require the use of salt (sodium chloride) in one of two ways: wet-salting or brine-curing. In wet-salting, the skins are liberally salted and piled on top of one another until they form a pack. They are left in the pack for about 30 days to allow the salt to thoroughly penetrate the skin. Brine-curing is a much quicker method. In agitated brine-curing, the method most commonly used, skins are placed in large vats called raceways that contain a disinfectant and brine maintained close to full salt saturation. After about 16 hours in the raceway, the skins are completely penetrated by the salt.