Hide glue is one of those things that really desperately needs a solution.

Unless you make the glue up every couple of days and keep a rolling batch  process going with a batch slaking  and a batch in use and unless you dispose of the glue you don't use after a few days ( or pop it in the fridge or freezer)  - unless you do those things you will have trouble.

This because hide glue is a marvelous medium upon which to grow all manner of harmful bacteria and mold.  The bad things will grow and  grow fast.

I am not so organized, not by a long shot.

So you were stuck:

Until the advent of modern science and the marvelous wisdom that I impart to you today:

EDTA

Right now this is pretty much an unknown thing. You wont find it in any book or any website.

Yup EDTA is a  lovely and very cheap substance that binds non-specifically to minerals and metals galore. It is mostly non toxic so you can be careless with the stuff too.

Put just a dash in your  hide glue and nary a mold will appear nor a bacterium. This because they all need minerals to survive and your EDTA will have locked up all the minerals and metals in the glue without harming the glue.

How much? Oh I've used as much as a tablespoon per  half quart of glue - an astonishing amount way far  insanely more than needed  - but it was enough to convince me that it doesn't hurt the glue.  I'd recommend an  quarter teaspoon per quart. 

I bought a pound of the stuff here http://www.saveoncitric.com/died1lb.html   for $7.00

Thanks for the tip, Cliff.

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!