The Wested must be mineral tanned, then. Good info.(nm)

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Posted by Dakota Ellison from spider-we083.proxy.aol.com on September 19, 2000 at 20:57:20:

In Reply to: Everything you always wanted to know about leather, bit were afraid to ask... posted by Fedora on September 19, 2000 at 20:37:48:

: Since so many fans are investing in leather jackets, I thought it might be enlightening to know how that skin or hide off that dead critter is preserved and treated. So if you are interested read on.

: (1 Raw skins are first cured by soaking them in salt brine or by salting them heavily and leaving them in a stack to dry.

: (2 Soaking and unhairing. Cured skins are soaked in pure water to remove salt, blood, and dirt, and to replace moisture. Hair is removed in a lime solution, usually sodium sulfide and calcium hydroxide(lime).

: (3 Deliming and bating. In deliming, the skins soak in a weak acid solution that reduces swelling caused by the lime. Simultaneously, skins are treated with bating material to give them a smoother grain and make them soft and flexible. Enzymes are used in the bating process, usually those produced by the pancreas.

:
: The hides or skins are now ready for the tanning process that stops the putrefying forever. In other words this is the main preserving process. Basically there are three types of tanning processes. Oil, vegetable and mineral. We will be concerned with only the last two, as that is what is used in the items we commonly buy, unless of course, you use chamois.

:
: (4 Vegetable tanning. Developed by the Egyptians and Hebrews about 400 BC. The tanning agent is tannin (tannic acid), commonly found in various plants around the world. Here in the South, we used ground up red oak bark. Hides are soaked in tannin solutions until they have absorbed enough tannin to complete the process.The various vegetable-tanning procedures can take weeks or months to complete. The end result is a stretch resistant, water resistant leather.

: (5 Mineral tanning. This is also known as chrome tanning because the tanning agent contains chromium salts. Chrome tanning produces a long wearing, soft pliable, heat resistant leather and is the preffered method for producing most light leathers. Use of this method, can shorten tanning periods to days or even hours. This type of solution penetrates the hides so rapidly that tannage is accomplished in less than a day. This type of leather is used in a lot of garments, but also shoes.

:
: (6 Lubrication and dyeing. After tanning, all types of leather undergo various operations that differ according to the use to which the leather will be put. Before or after dyeing, the leather is rolled in a "fat liquor," which contains emulsified oils,and greases. This lubricates the leather, and enhances its softness, strength, and ability to shed water.

:
: Well, that's about it. Probably more than most would want to know, but I find it interesting. So the next time you smell leather, just remember, its just the aroma of the interaction of collagen and all of those chemicals it has been soaked in. And of course, the vegetable tanned leather won't smell like the mineral tanned. Different chemicals. Regards, Fedora




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