Leather: From the Raw Material to the Finished Product

The dressing and finishing of leathers of all kinds seems to be of growing importance every year, despite the fact that the durability of leather is often impaired by the chemic...

Before beginning a description of manufacturing processes, a precise definition of leather may be given. Laymen usually describe leather as "hides tanned with bark," Since the i...

The hides and skins of animals form the principal raw material of the tanner. Technically, the term "hides" is applied to the skins of the larger animals, while the word "skins"...

The methods of tanning may be classified as follow: (1) Vegetable tanning processes; (2) methods of chroming; (3) tawing processes; (4) oil tannages; (5) formaldehyde tannages;...

The vegetable materials used are woods, barks, shrubs, leaves, and fruits, either in their natural state or in the form of extracts. The majority of the minerals have a more or...

When it is considered that the construction of machinery for the leather trade had barely started thirty years ago, the wonderful variety and utility of modern machines are rema...

Before describing the making of leather by up-to-date methods, it may be useful to attempt to outline the evolution of the ancient art of tanning and dyeing skins. As everyone k...