In case you’re unaware, leather can easily be processed from various types of animal skins such as goats, cows, sheep, ostriches, alligators, and so on. As a material, leather has been in use for multiple years at this point and is preferred due to its insulating properties, high tensile strength, puncture resistance and various other brilliant properties.
But, you might be wondering – how does this amazing material, i.e. leather, is processed and created? Well, fret not as in this comprehensive guide, we’ll be going through every step that is covered when it comes to the leather creation procedure from animal hides. The general time frame to complete the leather creation process is around two weeks.
An In-Depth Look Into The Leather Creation Procedure
- The Preservation
According to a professional service provider for bus seat cleaning services, the first step in the leather creation process involves the removal of the skin from a deceased animal. The hide of the animal is then treated to avoid it from further deterioration. This process is also known as curing, which can be directly accomplished via numerous procedures such as chilling, salting, or utilizing certain chemicals that help in preserving the hide.
- The Soaking Process
Once the hide of the animal has been cured, the skin becomes dry and can sometimes have additional salt or dirt attached to it as well. Therefore, the hide should be re-hydrated. To do that, it’s submerged in water and then left as it is for a couple of hours or days. Following such a process not only helps the hide to get re-hydrated but also washes away any salt, dirt, or debris collected on the surface of the skin.
- The Liming Process
During the liming procedure, the hide is then placed inside a drum and then the same is soaked into an alkali solution. As a result, the alkali solution will deeply penetrate the hide and the main reason why this step is carried out is to remove the fats, epidermis, and hair from the hide. This causes the hide to swell up, mainly due to the increased nature of the solution PH level (alkali solution has more than 8 PH).
- The Fleshing Process
The fleshing method involves passing the hide through a machine which is mainly built to remove any type of subcutaneous material from the hide’s flesh.
- The Relining & Splitting
Once all the fleshy and hairy parts are removed from the skin, the hide is then split into two different layers. Once that’s done, the liming process is again carried out. One of the main reasons why the liming process is carried out for the second time is to remove proteins from the hide.
- The Deliming Process
This process is nothing but a washing procedure, which has two primary objectives:
- To remove the remains of the alkali solution from the hide, which will make the hide lose its swelling
- Lower the PH level of the hide
After the deliming process, degreasing is carried out using detergents (for removing natural fats), followed by the tanning procedure. The tanning process gives the leather flexibility. Finally, the leather is dyed and then finishing touches are applied.
