BEAMHOUSE OPERATION

The term beamhouse refers to the process in the tannery between the
removal of the skins or hides from storage and their preparation for
tanning.

The beamhouse processes are so called because they traditionally

included operations that were conducted over a wooden beam. Prior to
the introduction of machinery, hides or skins would be draped over an
angled wooden beam, so that they could be hand fleshed, hand
dehaired (scudded) and hand shaved to thickness.

The purpose of the beamhouse is to prepare the pelt for tanning.

 SOAKING

Soaking is normally the first chemically based process applied to the

rawstock in the tannery. This and all subsequent chemical steps are most
commonly conducted in drums.

Correct soaking of the raw hide or skin is the foundation of beamhouse

processing. Errors or omissions made here will give rise to basic faults such
as poor grain and handle characteristics which can not be corrected in the
subsequent leather making process. The objective of soaking hides and
skins before liming is more than just the simple rehydration of the raw hide.
 OBJECTIVES
To remove the chemicals which have been added during curing.

 To evenly rehydrate the hide/skin

Full rehydration of the fibre structure is a very important

precondition for all of the beamhouse operations

 To clean the pelt

 To remove non-structural proteins

 To remove hyaluronic acid

Note : The presence of salt (neutral electrolyte) effectively smears out

the charges, allowing the chain structure to contract in volume,
causing the molecules to be washed out of the pelt.

( For fresh hide, this mechanism is not available)

 Parameter for soaking processing
• History and Type of the pelt and Curing method
• Water content of the raw stock
• Exchange of substance between the soak liquor and pelt
• Nature of the protein solublize in the liquor
• Character of the soak liquor
• Temperature
• Concentration of the salt in soak liquor and the rate of
diffusion of salt in pelt
• PH of the liquor
• Float to pelt ratio
• Time in soak
• Effect of changing the soak liquor
• Impact of biocide in the soak liquor
Check the completion of soaking

• Restoration of the natural swollen of the

hide
• Good pliability in all section of the hide
• Slightly slippery handle of the flesh side
• Complete removal of residual dirt, blood
and dung
 Possible defects of soaking:
i. Short, or inadequate duration of soaking
 A particular source of defects for dried & partly dried, salted skins
& hides.
 Results in a hard, tiny texture of the leather of hides or hide
sections which have not been adequately soaked.
 This is due to different diffusion of the subsequent treatment of
chemical into the skin fibers which are still partly stuck together.
ii.Low soaking temperature (<15 ⁰C):
 Lower temperatures of the liquor slow down & inhibit the soaking
process.
 The water absorption of the skin is reduced
 Furthermore a certain hardness or firmness of the skin is evident
iii.Excessive soaking temperature (> 28 ⁰C):
 Soaking temperatures exceeding 28 ⁰C can lead to undesired high
bacterial growth & furthermore to greater hydrolytic degradation of
skin substance, resulting in a flat & tinny leather quality.
 Prevention is only possible by adding higher amounts of disinfectants
iv.Damage caused by mechanical processing:
 In particular when soaking dried hides or partly dried, salted hides,
the grain may become cracky as a consequence of inadequate
preliminary soaking followed too quickly by the subsequent treatment,
or due to an excessive rotational speed of the drums.
vi.Minor damage due to putrefaction:
 Not visible on the soaked hide.
 Noticeable by putrid smell & matt, lusterless or blind sections in the
grain of the leather.
vii.Serious bacterial damage:
 Noticeable on the soaked hide by initial signs of hair-slippiness
&/or slippery surface.
 Revealed in the leather by loose grain & reduced firmness.
viii.Heavy putrefaction:
 Noticeable on the soaked hide by pitting, holes, putrefaction
marks on the grain and also by complete loosening of the grain
layer.
 The putrefaction & bacterial damages can be avoided by
addition of bactericidal agents & by reduction of the soaking
temperature.
As noted earlier, it needs to be underlined that care must be taken in
caring out these initial phases because any error can definitely
compromise the quality of the finished product. Therefore, to obtain
excellent soaking, the soaking process must be carried out in the
following steps:

a) Pre-soaking

b) Washing

c) Soaking

Soaking is essential for dried hides or hides that have been salted for
a long time. These hides have to be remoisturied before being
exposed to mechanical stresses, which could cause surface lesions.
Washing is required to remove salt, blood and dirt.
 Factors affecting the soaking
operation

The relative importance of variables obviously varies from

raw material to raw material.

In all cases the soaking process has to be designed to bring

the hides into intimate contact with the required volume
of water in order to achieve the stated objectives.

The process variables are, as always, a matter of

compromise.
 i). The nature of the rawstock and the type of cure

Generally cattle hides require a longer time when compared to the

skins of the same type of cure

Fresh or wet salted hides and skins require much less time when
compared with dry salted or dry hides.

 Dry salted stock takes less time than dry stock.

The case of soaking in the following order:

Fresh stock

Wet salted stock

Dry salted

Dry stock
Generally the soaking has got to be adjusted according to the type of the
rawstock-Green and wet salted stock soak back readily in a shorter time,
whereas dry salted or dry stock requires greater time and chemicals for
proper soaking

ii). The type of salt used (if any) in curing

Salts which contain a higher proportion of Mg and Ca chlorides are

advantageous in shortening the time of soaking. That means marine(sea)
salt aids in quicker soaking when compared to lake or rock salts which
contain Na2SO4

iii). Quality and quantity of water used for soaking

Generally hard water( (containing Permanent hardness due to chlorides

and sulphates) is advantageous in soaking as this helps to
 LIMING/UNHAIRING

Definition
Liming is normally the second chemically based operation that takes
place in the tannery. It is designed to further purify the raw material and
isolate the material from which leather is to be made.

Objectives

• To remove materials from the hide which can not be converted into
leather and this means the removal of hair epidermal layers cells,
pigments and decomposition products

• To open up(prepare) the hide for the subsequent tanning operations

suitably

• To modify the non structural proteins so that they can easily be

removed (particularly in bating)
…… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (pretanning operations)

 To partially saponify the greases & fats (this may not be

quite correct in some countries’ hides)
 To remove some of the interfibrillary proteins.
 The important part of the liming is that the swelling and
opening up of the fiber structure together with the loosening
of the epidermal layer and adipose tissue and hence this
operation is to be carefully watched & controlled.
• It is the most decisive process in leather making (manufacture).
• Removes unwanted parts (substances) of hide/skin that do not make up leather.
• Hair, flesh and other fatty & proteinaceous substances are removed at this stage.
• Chemicals used are Slaked Lime (Ca(OH)2) or Quick lime (CaO) & sharpening
agents such as Na2S
• Can be done in two ways: hair burning & hair saving methods.
Hair burning method:
 Immersing the soaked skin/hide in lime liquor prepared from lime & sodium
sulfide
Hair saving method:
 Painting lime paste (prepared from lime & Na2S) on the flesh side of the
skin/hide, OR
 Immersing the soaked skin/hide in lime liquor prepared from lime & sodium
bisulfide (NaHS)..
Factors influencing the liming process
The type and the nature of the
stock
 The type of leathers required to
be produced

 The quantity and quality of lime

 The quantity and quality of water

 Temperature

 Time

 Mechanical Action
…… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (pretanning operations)

Possible defects of liming:

i. Inadequate loosening of hair:
ii.Lime stains, lime blasts:
iii.Sulphide stains:
iv.Cracked grain:
 Deliming
Deliming is the removal of the alkali and the adjustment of pH for bating

The pelts after fleshing are in plumped condition and are full of lime and
the pH is high (above 12). But before they are taken for tanning, it is
necessary to free them from lime, reduce the plumping and to lower the
pH nearer to the tanning range. This process is known as deliming and
it is usually done by treating the limed pelt with some mild acids or acid
salts.
 DELIMING

If deliming is not done, and if the limed pelts are treated with vegetable tan
liquors, The tannins combine with lime and produce calcium tannate on the
grain, which on oxidation forms dark brown patches and cracks on the surface.
If the limed pelts is taken straight to chrome tanning liquor; the chrome will be
fixed and deposited on the outer surface leaving the interior undertanned.
Hence deliming is important and necessary operation. But the extent of
deliming will vary for different types of leathers having different desirable
properties.
 …… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (pretanning operations)

• Some of the most common deliming agents used in practice are:

Acids Ammonium salts
Boric acid Ammonium sulphate
Acetic acid Ammonium chloride
Formic acid
Hydrochloric acid
Sulphuric acid
Naphthalene sulforic acid

Methods of deliming
• The fleshed pelts after weighing are washed first in soft water repeatedly to
remove the surface lime
• Then treated with the deliming agent (e.g. about 0.5 to 3.0 % ammonium salts,
depending on the types of leather produced) in a pit, paddle or drum, until the
lime is removed to the required extent.
 …… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (pretanning operations)

• The deliming is tested by adding phenolphthalein indicator on the cut section of

the pelt.
• Complete absence of pink color formation indicates complete deliming.
• In partially delimed hides, pink color will be formed in the inner layer of the cut
section.
• Usually one or two scuddings are done during or after deliming.
Possible defects of deliming:
i. Inadequate deliming:
iii.Damage to grain:
iv.Loose grain and flank accentuation:
v.Lime stains:
v.Soiled pelts, rough grain:
 …… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (pretanning operations)

4. Bating
• A process of treating the delimed pelts with enzymes such as trypsin, pancreatin, etc,
to remove coagulable & interfibrilary proteins.
Objectives of bating:
 To clean the grain surface from dirt, scud, etc & make it smooth & fine
 To open up the fiber structure by enzyme action
 To remove the coagulable & interfibrillary proteins
 To fascillitate easy scudding
• Usually commercial bates contain the enzymes in a medium of inert material like flour
& a chemical deliming agent like Ammonium sulphate or chloride.
Method of bating:
 Bating can be done in drum, paddle or pit.
…… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (pretanning operations)

Testing of bated pelts:

 A well bated skin should have the following characteristics:
 The grain surface should be smooth, slippery & silky in feel
 The skin should retain the thumb impression when pressed by thumb and
after removal of the pressure
 The skin should be fallen & flaccid
 The flesh should become tender & can be easily scrapped off
 The skin should be permeable to air, tested by pressing the trap air bag to
allow air to pass through the grain.
pH & temperature of bating:
 The ideal pH for bating is about 8.3 to 8.5.
 Too high pH >8.5 will not make the pelt fallen & flaccid, & too low <7.5 will
not contribute to proper opening up.
…… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (pretanning operations)

Possible defects of bating:

i. Inadequate bating:
 Causes: bating time too short, use of low enzyme concentration, pH
values which are not in the optimum range, bating temperature too low,
inadequate preliminary soaking, liming and deliming.
 Effect: hard to brittle grain, loose grain (if the grain has been bated
correctly, but the inner layers have not been bated), poor penetration of
tanning agent and staining.
ii. Over bating of pelts:
 Causes: bating time too short, enzyme concentration too high,
excessive bating temperature or storing of cured rawstock for too long
 Effect: overloosening of the fiber texture results in loose grain,
excessive drawing of the grain and spongy leathers. Furthermore, the
strength and fullness of the leather is reduced (tinny). Extreme
overbating may result in a matt and blind to defective grain (bate
pinholes, bating stains). Often these cannot be distinguished from
defects cause by soaking, putrefaction or liming.
 Remedy: bating to a longer time with lower enzyme concentrations at a
lower temperature.
 …… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (pretanning operations)

5. Pickling
• Is the process of treating the pelts with a solution of acid & salt to bring them to an acidic
condition so that they are ready for tanning.
• The delimed & bated pelts have a pH of 8.0, and by pickling the pH is brought down to
about 3.5 depending on the amount of acid used.
a. Objectives of pickling:
 Pickling has two main objective in leather manufacture
i. Conditioning the pelt ready for tanning – specially in chrome tanning.
ii. Preservation of the pelt for a longer time prior to tanning
 In the first case, the pelts are given a mild pickling & in the second case the pelts are
given a heavier pickling.
 Higher the pH value of the pelt in the pickle bath, greater is the tendency for the chrome
tanning salts to fix on the grain.
 …… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d

8. Tanning
• Is the major process by which the putrefiable nature of the hide/skin
is changed & the permanent resistance to bacterial action,
hydrothermal stability, etc are imparted.
• Is also defined as an irreversible stabilization of the hide/skin which
is prone to putrefaction.
• The main object of tanning is to convert the putrefiable raw hide/skin
into a substance known as Leather, which:
 does not putrefy,
 dries out soft
 does not swell when wetted back
• Substances which impart such characteristic to the raw pelt are
called tanning agents.
 …… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d

• The following tanning agents have been found to be successful in producing

satisfactory commercial leather:
 Mineral tanning agents such as salts of chromium, aluminum & zirconium
 Vegetable tanning agents (tannins) such as mimosa, quebracho, etc
 Oils containing large amount of unsaturated groups such as fish oil, cod oil, etc
 Formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, etc
 Synthetic tanning agents or syntans
• Tanning processes have been developed making use of the as-mentioned tanning
agents to produce commercial leather, & are known as:
a) Chrome tanning process
b) Vegetable tanning process
c) Alum tanning process
…… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (tanning operations)

d) Formaldehyde tanning process

e) Oil tanning process
f) Tanning with syntans
• Combination tanning process is also adopted in the trade by making
use of more than one tanning agents to impart several desirable
properties, derived from the characteristic of each tanning agent used.
• Typical examples of combination tanning processes are:
 Semi-chrome process – first vegetable tanning then followed by
chrome tanning. (for garment leather, suede leather, etc)
 Chrome retain process – first chrome tanning then followed by
vegetable tanning. (for upper leather)
 Formaldehyde & oil tanning – first formaldehyde then followed by oil
tanning. (for chamois leather)
…… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (tanning operations)

Types of tanning operation:

1. Chrome tanning:
• The process of tanning hides/skins with basic chromium
sulphate (BCS) is known as chrome tanning.
• Chrome tanning is carried out in drums.
Preparation of Chrome liquor (conventional method):
• Usually for preparing an approximately 33% basic
chromium sulphate liquor, the following procedure is
adopted:
 Sodium dichromate (Na2Cr2O7) – 100 parts
 Sulphuric acid (1.84 sp.gr) – 95 parts
 Molasses – 35 parts
 Water – sufficient quantity
…… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (tanning operations)

3. Vegetable tanning:
• Is one of the earliest tannages known to mankind.
• The classical meaning of vegetable tanning is that the conditioned pelt
is treated with an aqueous infusion of tree barks, pods, fruits or roots by
which process the pelt is made imputricible.
• The active chemical compound which is capable of combining with the
protein collagen to convert into an imputricible material (leather) is
known as Tannin.
• Tannins are usually water soluble and easily extracted from the bark,
root, pods, leaves or fruits.
Classification of tannins:
• Vegetable tannins are divided chemically into two main groups, namely
pyrogallol & catechol groups. They are also known as hydrolysable &
condensed tannins, respectively.
• Pyrogallol or hydrolysable tannins usually give yellow to tan brown
color, contain high acidity, and contains more sugary matter.
…… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (tanning operations)

4. Oil tanning:
• Many oils and fats having unsaturated carbon linkages are
found to have tanning properties.
• One of the important leathers made by oil tanning is
Chamois leather, which is very soft, silky, washable and is of
cream yellow color.
• The most commonly used oils for tanning are fish oil, cod
oil.
• The oil tanning is based on the oxidation of fish or cod oil,
because these oils have numerous unsaturated bonds, i.e.,
all the valencies of the constituent carbon atom are not
satisfied. These unsaturated free fatty acids combine with
oxygen to form oxidized form of fatty acid, aldehydes and
peroxides which effect the tanning action on the pelt.
 Post tanning operations
• After chrome tanning the tanned stock is usually piled for a minimum period of 24 to 48
hours on a wooden platform before taken for further processing, which is called aging.
• Aging of the wet blue leathers is important as more fixation of chrome tanning takes
place during this period.
• Wet blue leathers should never be allowed to dry till they are further processed.
• Dried chrome tanned leather are very difficult to wet back and besides gives hard and
bonny feel and also the uptake of dye and fat liquor gets affected.
• Usually, while storing the leather, it is better to cover the pile with a polyethylene sheet or
gunny bag.
• Leathers after tanning still remain very uneven in thickness (substance) and may contain
loose flesh.
• Commercial finished leather should be of required uniform thickness and the flesh side
also should be clean.
• In order to achieve this, the leathers (hides) are split and/or shaved whereas skins are
shaved only.
 …… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (post tanning operations)

1. Sammying:
• Is a process of squeezing out extra water (moisture) from the tanned
leathers to bring them into appropriate condition for the subsequent
treatment of thickness by splitting & shaving.
• The amount of moisture present in chrome tanned leathers exerts difficulty
for splitting and shaving.
• Considerable amount of moisture should be removed from the tanned
hides and skins before they are split and or shaved.
• The pressure exerted should not be high so that there are no compressed
areas which may result in loose grain.
• If too much water is to be removed, it is advisable to samm twice with light
pressure than once with heavy pressure.
• The moisture content is reduced to 45 - 50% in sammying process.
 …… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (post tanning operations)

2. Splitting:
• Splitting is done by an endless band splitting machine.
• The sammed leather is fed through in between the feed rollers and the
bevelled edge of the knife is made to pass horizontally through the thickness
of leather at any adjusted depth below the grain surface.
• The thickness usually in splitting is kept above 0.2 mm than the shaving
thickness required.
• Undue splitting in flanks and shoulder regions should be avoided as these
portions being more loosely textured, the substance drops down on drying.
• Heavy and medium hides or sides are often split into two or three layers.
• The bottom splits obtained as a by product may be processed into linings,
washers, etc.
• Knife marks should be avoided in the splitting operation.
 3. Shaving:
• The hides or sides after splitting, are further shaved to the required thickness
in the shaving machine.
• Light skins are shaved straight away instead of splitting, either in the entire
surface or along the back bone and neck depending upon the original
substance and the substance required.
• In shaving operation also, care should be taken to see that undue shaving is
not done in looser portions like bellies, flanks etc.
• Chatter marks should be avoided as this show up even in finished leather.
• Strict supervision should be followed to check the uniformity of thickness in
shaved leather, using thickness gauges.
• Proper allowance for thickness should be maintained in shaving for the
increase in retannage or for the drop in thickness due to mechanical
operations like plating etc.
 4. Neutralization
Is done after shaving & is intended to remove free acid, protein bound acid and acid
present inside the chrome complex, so that the cationic charges (positive charge) are
reduced and hence in the subsequent operations of dyeing, fat liquoring, retanning,
etc., these anionic materials (negatively charged), instead of reacting immediately,
gradually penetrate more uniformly and thoroughly.

• Usually 1 to 2 % of the neutralizing agents are added for neutralizing chrome uppers
in two or more instalments in 200 % water on the shaved weight.
• The extent of neutralisation will depend on the type of end product.
• In case of upper leather where temper is required, the neutralisation of the leather
may be partial (have a pH of 4.8 – 5.0).
• In the case of garments, gloves, etc., where softness and drape are required,
neutralisation should be complete (have a pH of 5.6 – 6.0).
• If the neutralisation is carried out to a great extent in upper leather it may cause
looseness and if it is not sufficient it may cause hardness and firm and cracky leather
may be produced.
…… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (post tanning operations)

• The indicators normally used for checking the neutralisation are

Bromocresol green and Bromocresol purple.
• A cross section of the piece cut from the butt or neck portion is normally
tested with the indicator.

Indicator pH Colour
Bromocresol green < 3.8 - > 5.4 yellow - blue
Bromocresol purple < 5.2 - > 6.8 yellow - purple

• Bromocresol green is commonly used for pH control in neutralization. The

color change observed with this important indicator is as follows:

pH Colour change
3.5 and below yellow
4.0 yellow green
4.5 green
5.0 blue green
5.5 and above blue
…… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (post tanning operations)

Possible defects of neutralization:

i. Inadequate deacidification (neutralization):
 If the middle zone of the cross-section remains unneutralized problems
may arise in subsequent processing:
1. astringent retanning agents diffuse only with difficulty into this zone
2. fat emulsions crack in this zone and cause blotch and fat stains
3. fatty spew may also occur to a greater extent
4..in the leather the free acid migrate into the outer zone causing
corrosion at metal parts of final products.
ii. Overnutralization:
 Results in detanning of the grain zone and thus in loose grain, strawy,
brittle grain or in unfavorable cases even crackines of the grain.
 Furthermore, may lead to uneven, pale and thin dyeings.
 …… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (post tanning operations)

5. Retanning
• Is a subsequent treatment with the most different tanning agents following the main
tanning process in order to give the leather special, optimum properties for use
• Due to the great variety of retanning agents available on the world market any
desired character of the leather can be achieved for practically all sorts of leather by
the process of retanning.
• In special corrective formulations, retanning agents enable industrial production and
increase the utility value of leather, e.g. by
 selective filling of poor-quality raw-stock,
 equalization of lots tanned in different quality,
 incorporation of special effects for mechanical processing,
 increase of yield,
 enhanced firmness of grain,
 modification of the handle properties and flexibility of the leather or
 improvement of the hygienic properties of garment leathers.
…… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (post tanning operations)

The most important retanning methods

a. Chrome-tanned leathers

Retanning with: Improvement:

Vegetable tannin & syntan: Filling, firmness, non-elasticity, handle
White-tanning agents: Tan color, fineness of grain, handle
Chrome-tanning agents: Dyeing property, grain, resistance to heat
Polymer tanning agents: Softness, handle, filling , chrome fixation
Aluminum/zirconium: Fiber texture, fineness of grain, brilliance
Resin tanning agents Selective filling, firmness of grain
Glutaraldehyde: Fine grain, resistance to perspiration
…… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (post tanning operations)

b. Vegetably/Synthetically tanned leathers

Retanning with: Improvement:

Vegetable tannin & syntan: Yield, tan color, levelness of color
Chrome-tanning agents: Temperature resistance, dyeing properties
Bleaching tanning agents: Tan color, fixation
Aluminum/zirconium: Buffing, dyeing properties, tan color
Resin tanning agents Filling, alkali & heat resistance

c. Aluminum-tanned leathers

Retanning with: Improvement:

Glutaraldehyde: Resistance to perspiration, softness
Polymer tanning agents: Softness, handle, filling
 6. Mordanting & Dyeing
Use of mordants
• Usually, neutralized leather after washing are mordanted before dyeing so that binding or fixation of
dyes is facilitated..
• This mordanting is done with a view not so much to increase the affinity of the leather for different
classes of dyes, but to dampen the affinity.
Dyeing:
• After mordanting, the leathers are usually dyed.
• Dyeing is the process of imparting color to the tanned leather.
• In olden days dyeing used to be mainly done with coal-tar dyes.
• The coal-tar dyes offered in a wide varieties of shades of guaranteed uniform quality, from lot
to lot.
• The type of dyes which are actually used for leather are somewhat limited in variety, owing to
the fact that leather can’t be treated in strongly alkaline baths.
Classification of dyes
a. Acid dyes:
b. Basic dyes
c. Direct dyes
d. Chrome mordant dyes:
 7. Fatliqouring
• Fatliquor is the term generally used to represent an emulsifiable oil and fatliquoring operation
is done by treating the leather with an oil-in-water emulsion of the fatliquor.
• The primary function of fatliquoring is not to soften the leather: this is only the secondary
function. The primary function of fatliquoring is to prevent the fibre structure resticking during
drying
• The fatty matter of the emulsion is absorbed uniformly by the leather from the emulsion, giving
the necessary lubrication of the fibres.
• The absorption of the oil is facilitated by reducing pH, increased temperature, mechanical
action, avoiding too much float etc.
• Except for some types of sole leather, all other sorts of leather are fatliquored to a greater or
less degree.
• Fatliquoring has the following purposes:
1. Deposit of fatty substances in the interfibrillar spaces in order to give the leather the
desired softness & handle properties
2. Correction and control of the physical properties like tensile strength, split tear strength,
extensibility, wetting properties or water repelling capacity or water-proofness, permeability
to air and water vapor, water absorption and moisture storage capacity, thermal & electrical
conductivity.
 RECHROMING

Get more uniform chromium content in a pack of leather

More uniform layer wise distribution of chrome in thicker
leathers
Get required amount of chrome as per product or
demanded by the buyers
Fresh cationic charge in aged wet blue
Better dyeability
 Neutralization
• Neutralization is an important process in wet finishing operation
to get the desired final product.
• This is the process in which the charge characteristics of the
leathers are adjusted by the neutralization of the free acid
present / liberated from the chrome complexes due to olation
during aging in the chrome tanned leathers and the extent of
neutralization will depend on the softness of the final leather and
the extent of neutralization increases with the increase in the
softness required.
 Objective of Neutralization
Cr Tanned leathers are positively charged
Acid is liberated from Cr complexes due to olation during
ageing
Neutralization done to adjust charge characteristics of leather
for further processing
Extent of neutralization depends on the softness of final
leather
The nature of raw material should also be taken into account
for neutralization
If post-tanning operations are performed without neutralization, the
following things will occur.
• The dye will get fixed only to the surface without penetration and the
patchy and unlevel surface dyeing will result in.
• The fatliqours will not be able to penetrate well due to premature
breaking of oil in water emulsion resulting in surface greasiness and
hard and bony leather without the internal softness.

• The penetration of retanning material will not be good and there will
be more loading of the grain resulting in empty leather with coarse
grain and in worst cases the grain might crack due to excessive
surface loading.
 The extent of neutralization required for different types of
leathers are as follows:

Corrected grain upper leather pH 4.8 – 5.0

Softy upper pH 5.0 – 5.2
Suede leathers pH 5.2 – 5.5
Nappa garment leather pH 5.5 – 6.0
Glove leather pH 6.0 – 6.5
If the pH shoots up suddenly during fast addition of alkali ,
there is possibility of grain becoming coarse or non-uniformity in
colour due to local precipitation of chrome or in worst cases
chrome patch also can happen.
Some of the common neutralising agents used in
practice are:-
1) Sodium bicarbonate
2) Borax
3) Calcium formate
4) Sodium formate
5) Sodium acetate
6) Ammonium bicarbonate
7) Neutral syntan
 RETANNING
The skin/hide fiber structure varies from location to the other.
Butt and neck are compactly woven whereas the bellies and
shanks are loosely structure.

Hence, in leather processing every effort should be made to

bring about uniform fullness and fiber compaction not only. The
chrome tanning produces empty types of leathers and
vegetable tanned leathers produce fuller leathers.
Objectives of Retanning
To improve the fullness and uniformity of substance
To fill the looser areas in order to get uniform
substance and fibre compaction in all parts of the skin
To impart body and round feel
To avoid grain looseness, improve ‘break’ and grain
tightness
To improve overall cutting value
To improve buffability, glazability, burnishability,
print retention properties and To produce white leathers
 FATLIQUORING
Fatliquoring is done to impart softness, flexibility, feel,
drape, run etc. To the leather even after drying
The individual fibres are coated with a thin layer of oil
to reduce internal friction and make the fibres slide over
one another to give required softness and flexibility
The strength properties are also improved by
fatliquoring
Different types of oils for fatliquor preparation are used
based on many parameters like molecular size, viscosity,
 …… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (post tanning operations)

Post Dyeing & Fatliquoring Operations

• After dyeing and fatliquoring, the leathers are normally horsed up or piled
overnight for proper distribution and fixation of the various treatments of
chemicals given, like retanning materials, dyes and fatliquors.
• They are then struck out or put out in machine which has a felt where
besides the leather being made flat, the moisture is also removed.
1. Setting out:
• The leathers after they are put out may be hooked for some time to semi-dry
condition when they are set on the grain or flesh or on both sides in a
reversible setting out machine, which has a smooth stainless steel or ebonite
roller.
• The objects of setting are to make the leather absolutely flat by removing all
bagginess, to remove wrinkles and folds and also to smoothen the grain.
• The rollers can be heated and such setting, using the correct temperature
improves the setting operation, giving a smooth grain.
 …… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (post tanning operations)

2. Drying
• After setting out, the leathers are dried.
• Too slow drying produces soft and spongy leather and rapid drying gives
a firm and hard leather with tinny feel.
• Drying of leathers should preferably be carried out at not too high a
temperature (45-58 ºC) and that at the beginning of the process the air
should have a high relative humidity (70-75% RH).
• After the leathers have dried well, the moisture content of air should be
decreased with corresponding decrease in temperature.
• If the evaporation proceeds rapidly, some of the materials like vegetable
tanning etc. are brought out to the surface.
• Slower evaporation will not allow these materials to migrate readily.
• Rate of evaporation is therefore very important because it affects the
deposition of tanning materials, oils etc.
 …… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (post tanning operations)

2.1. Drying methods

a) Air drying by suspension
• This is the earliest method of drying wherein the leathers are hung up by hooks.
• The leathers are dried by natural passage of air.
• Depending upon the weather conditions, drying time may take longer or shorter
time and uniformity of results is difficult to achieve.
• Better results can be achieved if the temperature and humidity can be controlled.
• This method of drying is very good for making softy types of leathers like garments,
gloves etc. where softness and stretchiness besides the fluffiness are desired.
• The major advantages of air drying are low capital investment, no heat input, and
simplicity of the operation, leather feel and softness.
• On the other hand, the major disadvantages are no control over drying, space
needed is too much.
…… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (post tanning operations)

b) Tacking
• Here the leather is stretched out on boards and tacked.
• By this method, the leather fibres are not allowed to collapse while
drying, thus preventing loss.
• This also reduces wrinkles and folds in the leather.
• The advantages being; low capital investment but more investment than
air drying and better area yield.
• The disadvantages are low productivity; high Labour cost; too much
stretching of leather may give firm and tinny feel and the looser portions
will be thin, nail mark have to be removed by trimming.
(c) Toggling
• In this method, leather is stretched and held in position by a number of
toggles that are hooked into the screens.
• The screen boards can be placed in the open shade or in a dryer having
controlled temperature and humidity.
…… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (post tanning operations)

• Toggling has the advantage of drying large quantity of leathers in

relatively less space and also getting better area yield.
• Automatic toggling unit has come where stretching can be done and the
toggling board passes through different chambers where the
temperature and humidity are controlled.
(d) Pasting
• By this method, leathers with grain side are pasted on to large sheets of
plate, glass using pastes (consisting of starches, methyl cellulose,
sodium alginate, casein, linseed, plasticizers, humectants, preservatives
etc).
• The pasting plates can be passed through a tunnel drier of 4-6
chambers where different temperatures and humidity are kept.
• This gives maximum smoothness of grain and area yield (5-8% extra
yield more than suspension drying).
• Pasting is followed for corrected grain, suede’s, splits etc.
• The pasting unit is expensive.
• Moisture content of the leathers before pasting is important for proper
adhesion to the plates.
 …… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (post tanning operations)

3. Trimming
• The dried leathers are trimmed to remove nail holes.
• Toggle marks or any ragged edges.
• As most of the leathers are sold by area, the trimming operation is very important
and must be carefully carried out to avoid any excess and careless trimming.
4. Conditioning
• During the drying process, the leather fibres tend to adhere together giving the
leather some stiffness.
• The stiffening is more pronounced with mineral tannages.
• The leathers are softened so that the fibres are pulled apart by the so called staking
operations.
• For staking, the conditioning i.e. the correct moisture content of the leather is
important and to be controlled.
• If the leather is too damp while staking, the softness obtained by staking will not
remain and the leather will dry out hard and stiff.
 …… Wet Processing of Leather cont’d (post tanning operations)

5. Staking – Softening of leathers

• The principal softening operation is called as staking, which may be of different forms
for different leathers.
• Various forms of staking are; hand staking or knee staking, Perching, slocomb or jaw
staking, rotary staking, Schodel staking, vibratory staking (Molissa) and boarding.
• Vibratory staking system:
 The vibratory staking machine consists of series of tools, which vibrate vertically
against the horizontal skins, providing pummelling and flexing action to the skin.
 The skin is conveyed through the machine by laying it between the upper and
lower elastic conveyor bands.
 The speed of the throughput can be controlled by the speed of these conveyors.
 The vibrating tools act externally on the conveyor bands holding the skin between
them.
 The pressure and working action of the tools can be adjusted to suit different skins
and even different parts of the skins.
 Leather Finishing

• Finishing is the final operation in leather manufacture before leathers

are sent to market
• The object of finishing is to give a treatment of coatings to the grain
surface to
 protect it against dirt, staining, wetting,
 protect it against mechanical stresses like rubbing, scuffing, flexing
etc.,
 levelling or evening out the colour of the grain surface,
 hiding grain blemishes and upgrading its quality,
 improving the aesthetic appeal and the sales value of the product.
• By the finishing process, the grain surface of the leather is coated with
various substances and is then submitted to different mechanical
operations, depending upon the purpose intended whereby the
appearance of leather can be highly influenced to make it more useful,
attractive and appealing to users.
…………Leather Finishing cont’d

• Finishing may be employed to impart colours, a uniform shade,

special patterns, a smooth or grained or printed/embossed surface,
lustre (Matt or glossy) as well as opaque (covered) or transparent
(aniline/semi-aniline) appearance to the leather surface.
• Finishing operation is the most vital part of the processing of leather
as the final product is judged by its appearance, evenness of colour
and surface, feel, handle, break, gloss etc.
• Hence it is usually the finishers who have to face the complaints or
blames, if anything goes wrong.
• They are also expected to correct whatever faults that have occurred
during the earlier operations.
• A single coating of a finishing agent can not meet the requirements
needed.
• It is necessary to have various finishing agents with different
properties applied in several coats.
• A normal finish essentially consists of 3 coats: bottom coat, season
coat & top coat.
 Bottom Coat
• The bottom coat may be either sealing or impregnation coat and clearing
coat.
• The object of sealing or impregnating coat is to seal the grain to control
the penetration of the season coat.
• The season coat should give a leveled and uniform filmed color coating and
not overload the grain.
• Sealing should uphold firmly on the leather surface.
• Impregnation coat is applied for soft grain tightening and filling effects.
• The objective of the clearing coat is to make the grain devoid of any oils or
fats and to improve the absorbance of the season coat by the leather.
 …………Leather Finishing cont’d

Season Coat
• The season coat is to impart a desired color to the leather and level
out the surface defects.
• The effects like glossy or matt, soft or hard feel can be brought
about by proper choice of auxiliaries added to the season coat.
• This coat can be done either by pad or hand spray or Auto spray.
• By spraying on we can achieve levelness in film formation.
Top Coat
• Top coat serves the purpose of protecting the season coat.
• It gives properties like appearance, handle, fastness to wet and dry
rub resistance to hot plating.
…………Leather Finishing cont’d

Characteristics of a finish Film:

• An ideal film for leather should have the following characteristics:
i. Flexibility and stretchiness:
ii.Adhesion:
iii.Holding power:
iv.Gloss
v. Abrasive resistance & fastness:
vi. Water proofness and water vapor permeability:
vii.Thickness:
iii. Resistance to acid, alkali and chemicals:
 Constituents of a finish film:
• The following are the constituents of a finish film:
(a) Pigment paste:
 The vital properties required for leather pigment are; colour, strength of staining, hiding
power, texture, absorption, fastness to light, fastness to heat and temperature and
resistance in various media in which the pigment pastes are likely to come into contact
(viz., alkali, acid, formaldehyde, solvent, etc.)

(b) Dye solution:

 Only anionic dyestuffs can be used for brightening the aqueous finishes.
(c) Fillers:
• Linseed –
 Linseed mucilage or solutions are prepared by soaking linseed seeds in water and
boiling till the seeds are softened.
 It is then strained and made as 10% stock solution.
 A small amount of oil is also extracted from the seeds during boiling.
d) Binders/ Gloss giving agents:
• Caesin –
 This is a protein derived from milk.
 It is obtained by acidifying warm skimmed milk and allowing the
precipitated casein to settle down.
 Usually lactic acid is used for acidifying.
 It is then washed, filtered and finally dried and later ground to obtain
desired fineness of 30, 60 or 100 mesh.
 For leather finishing 30 mesh is used.
 Amongst the protein binders, casein is the most important and
widely used finishing auxiliary.
 For leather finishing, casein dispersions of 10 to 18% in strength are
made, dispersing casein in water using alkalis like liquor ammonia or
borax (sodium tetraborate).
 Other alkalis like triethanolamine and morpholine are also used which
give casein dispersions having good polarity.
……leather Finishing cont’d

(e) Plasticizers:
 Binding materials like casein, albumin, gelatin etc., do not give films
sufficiently elastic to withstand natural movements and flexing of the
surface on which they are applied.
 The film has to be plasticized in sufficient quantities to prevent it from
cracking and flexing.
 Sulphated oils are popular and amongst them the most popular is
sulphated castor oil or TRO (Turkey red oil).
 TRO is also used in making aqueous pigment pastes from dry
pigment powders.
 In protein finishes, TRO acts as not only a plasticizer but also as a
wetting agent. It promotes uniform flow of the finish on less absorbent
leathers but on highly absorbent leathers, it may cause the finish to
penetrate too deep.
……leather Finishing cont’d

f. Wax emulsions:
 Wax emulsions are one of the most important leather finishing materials.
 Popular waxes are carnauba wax, micro crystalline wax, montan wax,
shellac wax, paraffin wax etc., and other modern synthetic waxes of
different hardness.
 In leather finishing, waxes as emulsions are used as aqueous
dispersing agents along with other finishing agents to impart waxy feel.
(g) Fixing agents:
• Formaldehyde –
 It is generally used as a fixing agent on protein finishes or on finishes
where protein binders are added.
 A combination of 300 parts of formaldehyde (40%), 20 parts acetic acid
and 680 parts water has proved to be more suitable mixture for fixing.
(h) Preservatives:
 Casein and other protein binders & aqueous pigment pastes are
required to be preserved against putrefaction.
 A small quantity of suitable preservative has to be used in stock
solutions of binders, finishes and seasons to be used.
 The most commonly used are sodium trichlorophenate, sodium
orthophenyl phenate, sodium pentachlorphenate etc.
 About 0.5 - 2.0 gm of preservative upon the dry weight of proteinous
material is required.