A new approach to the drying and preserving of hides and hide products is presented. Hide pieces treated with water solutions of selected alkylene glycols and alkylene glycol derivatives air-dried with much more whiteness, fiber separation, and suppleness than untreated pieces. Results appraoch those obtained by the use of solvent dehydration techniques. Compounds that give the described results are listed. An estimation is made of the minimum concentration needed and the effects of concentration on the treatment time needed to give an acceptable air-dried product. -- CCI