Leather industry

How Leather is Made

Italy is home to more than 300 upholstery and fashion leather tanneries. The northern
Italian tanneries in Arzignano produce upholstery leathers while Santa Croce is known
for fashion leathers. Spinneybeck’s full grain leathers are produced at an Arzignano
tannery.

Modern tanneries are clean and safe with large amounts of natural light. Automation
has made the process faster, more efficient, and has enabled increased quality control.
The leather manufacturing process is a series of six phases that begins with raw
material preparation and ends with final inspection and shipment.

Raw Material
Europe’s moderate climate and stringent standards in the beef industry ensure ideal
conditions for the raw material of leather. Leather is a by-product of the meat industry
and hides that would otherwise go to waste are processed into a useful, long-lasting
product.

Raw material obtained from Italy, Southern Germany, and Denmark benefit from a
moderate climate where containment and management methods do not cause visible
injury to the cattle. In contrast, cattle in other areas may be raised in extreme
temperatures and are subject to barbed wire fences, branding, and electric cattle prods
which mar the hides. In addition, the use of grain feeding and growth hormones can
negatively impact the hide quality. A good hide has an 80–90 percent hide yield
whereas the yield of a bad hide is reduced to avoid holes, insect bites and other
blemishes producing only a 60 percent hide yield.
Raw Material Preparation
Hides arrive at the tannery and are stored in
a Beam House. They are packed in rock salt
for preservation, folded, and stored on pallets
for up to 30 days. When ready to be
processed, desalting removes salt from the
hides by tumbling and propelling the hides
forward with a series of pegs. The salt is
collected and recycled for additional hide
preservation in the Beam House. Haired
hides are not desalted but are placed in
soaking drums for one to two days to
rehydrate and remove dirt, salt, and some
soluble proteins. Hides are treated at the same time with lime to remove the hair and to
soften and enhance the hide. Next, all hides are defleshed to remove surplus waste
from the backside of the hides.

At this point, hides have a significant amount of moisture content and are approximately
4 mm thick. The hides pass through the splitting machine and are sliced into two layers.
The bottom portion of the hide (termed the reticular segment or split) is used for
inexpensive, inferior leathers. Often, these splits are sold to the handbag and shoe
industry as well as to tanneries that specialize in production grade, top grain, and split
leathers. The upper portion of the hide
(termed the papillary segment or
dermis) is utilized for high quality full
grain leathers. The fiber structure is
the tightest at the uppermost layer of
the hide allowing specialized
retannage, a luxurious suppleness of
hand, a full rich base dye, color
clarity, and a breathable protective
finish.
Tanning
Primary tanning converts pre-tanned hides
into leather by preserving and halting the
decomposition of the hide. Hides are loaded
into a tanning drum along with a solution of
chromium salts or vegetable tanning agents
and rotated up to eight hours. The salts and
tanning agents preserve the leather as well
as soften it. This highly sophisticated piece
of equipment continuously reheats the
tanning solution, providing the best possible
penetration of the hides. Next, fat liquoring
adds natural bovine oils imparting strength and softness to leather.

There are three types of tannage. Vegetable tannage is the conversion of rawhide into
leather with vegetable tanning agents. This process produces leather with greater body
and firmness than the more general method of chromium tanning. The most commonly
used vegetable materials are mimosa, chestnut, and bark. Chromium tannage is a
synthetic tannage. Leather tanned with chromium salts provides a soft, mellow
suppleness of hand. Combination tannage is a combination of chromium and vegetable
tanning together resulting in a full bodied, soft and supple leather.

Tanneries in the United States and Europe are required to process and treat the water
used in tanning so that it is completely filtered and purified. Any chromium used in
tanning is extracted and formed into nontoxic bricks for disposal in landfills. Its important
to note that the Chromium 3 used in leather production is not the carcinogenic
Chromium 6.

After tanning and fat liquoring, hides are placed in a sammying machine. Sammying is
the removal of excess moisture from a hide through pressure applied by rollers. Next,
an operator inspects and rates the quality of each hide. The hides are graded according
to the quantity and locations of natural features and flaws including bug bites and other
imperfections that could impact the overall quality of the hide. Hides are graded by
number with one being the highest quality and three being the lowest. These grades
determine the types of leather to be produced from each hide. For example, aniline and
nubuck leathers require the best quality hides. Heavily coated or embossed leather may
use a lesser quality.

The hides are sorted by grade and wrapped in plastic to keep them from drying out. At
this stage, chromium tanned hides are known as “wet-blue” because of their pale blue
color. The hides still have irregular, ragged edges, which are trimmed off before the
hides are shaved. All of the trimmings are collected in bins.

The hides are then shaved to provide a specific, uniform thickness determined by the
quality of the final leather product. After shaving, the hides are measured to confirm the
exact thickness. These shavings are collected and sent to be made into bonded leather,
recycled leather, floor tile backing, belts, and other products.

Retanning
Retanning is then completed to modify the physical characteristics of the leather to suit
its final use. Leather is retanned with chromium salts, vegetable matter, or a
combination of the two, giving a unique hand or texture. Hides are then placed in a
sammying machine for a second time to remove excess moisture. The hides are sorted
and stored once again.

Next, hides are vacuum

dried, oven dried, or air-
dried. With vacuum
drying, hides are placed
on a flat, temperature
controlled surface and a
top is lowered over them
to create a vacuum. This
vacuum allows the water
to be quickly extracted,
creating a tight smooth
grain texture. Leather
that goes through vacuum drying will shrink approximately five percent during this
process. If the air-drying method is used, hides are hung on an overhead conveyor
moving throughout the tannery until they are completely dry.

Mechanical softening in the staking machine massages the hides so they become soft
and supple. Hides are draped over horses after staking and after hides are dried, they
create a “crust.” The bleaching agent used in retannage gives a good base from which
to begin dyeing and allows for excellent clarity and color uniformity.
Dyeing
Dyeing adds color to the leather. Tanneries are equipped with an assortment of dyes to
color leather in a variety of neutrals to
bright, saturated hues. The recipe for
dyeing is formulated by computer to
ensure color accuracy and
consistency. Dyeing leather is a
lengthy process. Hides are put into
the dye drums and after eight hours,
a cutting is taken to assure that 100
percent of the dye has saturated the
hides. The remaining liquid in the dye
drums will be clear and hides are
either air or vacuum dried.
Spinneybeck’s high quality dyes allow
a greater saturation and dye enrichment than ordinary upholstery leathers.

Hides are staked for softness after drying and vaporized to re-moisturize.

Finishing
The purpose of finishing is to minimize the
appearance of grain blemishes, give the required
degree of gloss, ensure softness and malleability,
and provide a more protective and cleanable
surface.

During the milling process, hides are tumbled in

climate and humidity controlled drums, to soften
the leather. Hides are toggled onto stainless steel mesh frames for four to eight hours to
stretch and tighten the fiber structure. Leathers produced from finer raw material receive
a minimal application of surface finish or pigment, allowing it to remain porous and
breathable. High quality finishes permeate thru each hide. Naked leathers and haired
hides skip the finishing stage.

Hides are toggled onto stainless steel mesh frames for four to eight hours to stretch and
tighten the pore structure. They move through the spray line for finishing and into an
oven for curing. Hides are then stacked on horses after finishing. Mother of pearl can be
added to the finish to create pearlized leather. Other technical processes, such as
embossing, enhancing a grain pattern or texture on leather also take place at this time.
Most full grain leathers skip this stage and go directly to ironing. The ironing process
uses heat and pressure to create varying degrees of sheen. By applying more pressure
at higher temperatures, a greater sheen can be achieved. Hides are draped over horses
to prevent wrinkles and creases that might occur with folding.

Final Inspection
The final steps are to inspect and ship. A variety of tests are done to ensure high quality
control. These tests include color, abrasion, fading, and dimensional stability. Once a
hide has been tested, it is inspected to ensure it meets all of the intended quality
specifications. Hides are then measured and stamped with the total area in square feet
or square meters. The hides are rolled on tubes (finished side in) or draped on a horse
to prevent any wrinkles or folds when shipping.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-egypt-industry-leather-int/egypt-pins-export-hopes-on-new-leather-
production-city-idUSKCN1B31P7
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