Most of us have used or worn leather products at some point in our lives. Common leather items include shoes, purses, wallets and jackets but you may also have used a leather saddle for horseback riding, a leather key chain or you may have furniture upholstered in leather. Many cars now come with leather seats as well. Leather is definitely an everyday material that is present in many parts of our lives. While most people know that leather comes from cowhide, and some may know that it needs to be tanned, many people do not truly understand how leather is made. The following is a simple explanation, in laymen’s terms of the process of turning cowhide into usable leather that is ready to be turned into consumer items.
Animal hide cannot be used without treatment as it would rot and smell, similar to how meat would turn out if you used it to make consumer products. In order to prevent this rotting and unpleasant odor, the hide must be go through two steps of treatment, both of which take place at a tannery. The first step is wet blue processing and the second step is called finishing.
Before any tanning can take place, the hide needs to be properly cleaned. Any flesh or blood from the animal must be cleaned off. The best way to do this is by soaking it in an alkaline solution that breaks up the epidermis and flesh. The hide then goes through various stages of soaking and cleaning. By the end of this, the PH of the water is stabilized and the hide is ready to be tanned. The tanning agents prevent the hide from growing bacteria.
After it has been tanned, the leather can be split into various layers, depending on how thick it needs to be. For example, the leather used for a jacket is usually thicker than the leather used for shoes. After it is split, each layer of the leather is tanned once again.
Once the tanning is complete, the leather can be dyed, or embossed with a pattern. It is then covered with a polymer that keeps it smooth and flexible and protects it. The leather is now ready to be cut and made into material goods.
While leather tanning is not a wonderfully smelling process, and uses various chemicals, it is no longer as disruptive to the environment as it used to be. Tanneries have jumped on the bandwagon of sustaining the earth and now recycle their chemical agents, and do not dump chemicals into our earth or water.
Now that you know how hide is turned into leather, you probably don’t want to try it at home. It is a difficult process that involved many chemicals with strong odors. It is not something you want to do in your home. The next time you buy a pair of leather shoes, though, you can think about the long process of preparing, tanning and finishing that went into the production of that leather.
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