Leather: Difference between revisions
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'''Leather''' is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, and aquatic animals such as seals and alligators. Leather can be used to make a variety of items, including clothing, footwear, handbags, furniture, tools and sports equipment, and lasts for decades. Leather making has been practiced for more than 7,000 years. | '''Leather''' is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, and aquatic animals such as seals and alligators. Leather can be used to make a variety of items, including clothing, footwear, handbags, furniture, tools and sports equipment, and lasts for decades. Leather making has been practiced for more than 7,000 years. | ||
== Production == | |||
Tanning is the broad name for the process done to rawhide to convert it into usable leather that is resistant to decay and putrefaction. | |||
=== '''Preparation''' === | |||
Before rawhide can be tanned, it must first be scraped and cleaned to remove all the hairs, and any remaining meat, fat, or connective tissue from the rawhide. Then they are cured to prevent putrefaction, either in a sealed vessel filled with salt for a 30 days, or agitated in a brine for 16 hours. | |||
=== Beamhouse Operations === | |||
Beamhouse operations are the collective steps performed between preparation and tanning. In order, they are soaking, liming, unhairing, scudding and fleshing, deliming, bating / putering, drenching, and pickling | |||
'''Soaking''' | |||
First, soak the hide in water to wash any excess salt. | |||
'''Liming''' | |||
Next, soak the hide in [[Quicklime|slaked lime]]. The ratio should be (I couldn't find a ratio. I only saw a ratio of about 1 pound quicklime to 10 gallons water, but that's not a clean conversion). This is done to break down any leftover hairs or fats on the hide, as well as open up the collagen to better let in tannins. | |||
'''Deliming''' | |||
The hide is then soaked in a mixture of water, and an acid that can be rapid in their pH adjustment. | |||
'''Pickling''' | |||
Despite the name, this step has nothing to do with the food preservation process of the same name. | |||
For the final step, the hide is soaked in a solution containing tannins for a period of two to three months, after which it is dried and ready for use. | |||
=== Extracting Vegetable Tannins === | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Revision as of 02:06, 9 May 2025
Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, and aquatic animals such as seals and alligators. Leather can be used to make a variety of items, including clothing, footwear, handbags, furniture, tools and sports equipment, and lasts for decades. Leather making has been practiced for more than 7,000 years.
Production
Tanning is the broad name for the process done to rawhide to convert it into usable leather that is resistant to decay and putrefaction.
Preparation
Before rawhide can be tanned, it must first be scraped and cleaned to remove all the hairs, and any remaining meat, fat, or connective tissue from the rawhide. Then they are cured to prevent putrefaction, either in a sealed vessel filled with salt for a 30 days, or agitated in a brine for 16 hours.
Beamhouse Operations
Beamhouse operations are the collective steps performed between preparation and tanning. In order, they are soaking, liming, unhairing, scudding and fleshing, deliming, bating / putering, drenching, and pickling
Soaking
First, soak the hide in water to wash any excess salt.
Liming
Next, soak the hide in slaked lime. The ratio should be (I couldn't find a ratio. I only saw a ratio of about 1 pound quicklime to 10 gallons water, but that's not a clean conversion). This is done to break down any leftover hairs or fats on the hide, as well as open up the collagen to better let in tannins.
Deliming
The hide is then soaked in a mixture of water, and an acid that can be rapid in their pH adjustment.
Pickling
Despite the name, this step has nothing to do with the food preservation process of the same name.
For the final step, the hide is soaked in a solution containing tannins for a period of two to three months, after which it is dried and ready for use.
Extracting Vegetable Tannins
See also
References
| This article uses material from the Wikipedia article Leather, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (view authors). | 
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