Leather processing cycle: final phase

In our last article we described the intermediate phase of the leather processing cycle, therefore the transition from wet blue to crust.

We will end our short story on the transformation of this material by talking about the final finishing phase, which constitutes a set of operations aimed at defining the product characteristics of the leather such as the degree of gloss, elasticity, resistance to scratches, color and touch.
Below we will limit ourselves to listing the most common phases to provide some general notions.

First of all, the leather is sanded by passing it between two cylinders, one of which with an abrasive surface, to make it uniform.

At this point, there are many machines and treatments (chemical or mechanical) with which to finish the leather based on the final article, we will report only the macro categories:

• by spray, one of the most common finishes which consists of an automatic painting with the use of a series of rotary movement guns that leave a more or less thin, transparent, elastic or hard film on the skin depending on the type of leather that is want to get

• veil, useful for finishing patent leathers, in this case a machine evenly covers the leather with a liquid film

• with a swab, this process can be performed both manually and mechanically through the use of a swab soaked in chemicals that sprinkles the skin

• by roller, in this case the leather passes through two rollers, one conveyor and one for coloring

At the end of this step we move on to ironing, passing the hides in rotary presses with the aim of spreading the folds and softening them.

And finally to polishing, performed with a cylinder that slides on the surface of the leather, from the grain side, to fix the finishing products through the strong pressure exerted. This step will allow the final article to obtain the desired degree of gloss.

At this point the leather is finished and the finished product has been obtained, which only needs to be trimmed, chosen to verify its perfection, measured and packaged.

With these short articles we hope to have intrigued and sensitized you towards a sector of Italian excellence that allows the recycling and refinement of a product that would otherwise be disposed of as waste with the consequent environmental cost.

Company