Bacterial damage may not be evident in the wet-salted condition. Slow and extended attack by bacteria can show up in later processes. TFL's strategies include attacking the bacteria, and regulating the beamhouse processes with the correct enzymatic additives.
Hides which have been inadequately salted and / or have been in salt for a very long time become "stale". Whilst not always being obviously putrefied in the salted state, stale hides typically show up in the limed appearance. This is further seen in crust leathers which show looseness and lack of character often with low grain. These poor characteristics are caused by gradual bacterial damage to the hide collagen structures during storage.
Good Practice: Mild working conditions e.g. short gentle soaking with PELLVIT and a compatible biocide from the ARACIT range followed by mellow liming conditions with a swell regulating auxiliary such as ERHAVIT. With this problem the best that can be achieved is not to make the existing quality worse, it is not possible to improve the condition.