Leather is created through the tanning of animal hides and skins to make them durable and flexible. The tanning process involves soaking, dehairing, bating, pickling, tanning, neutralizing, splitting, shaving, retanning, fat liquoring, drying, and finishing the hides through the use of vegetable or chromium salts to preserve the material over time. The leather manufacturing process transforms raw hides through several chemical processes and is impactful on the environment.

1. LEATHER
PROCESSING

2. LEATHER
• It is a durable and flexible material created via
the tanning of putrescible animal raw
hide and skin, primarily cattle hide.
• It is animal skin that has been processed to
retain its flexibility, toughness, and waterproof
nature.

3. LEATHER
• The natural surface of leather is similar to
wood grain, each has its own distinct
characteristics. These unique features exude
authenticity and accentuate the landscape of
each individual hide.

4. TYPES OF LEATHER
Full-grain Top-grain
Corrected-grain Split

5. HISTORY
• Prehistoric people wrapped animal skins
around their bodies for warmth.
• Romans used leather for shoes and tunics as
well as for breastplates and shields. In fact,
the first recorded tanning guild was formed in
the Roman Empire.

6. HISTORY
• Ancient Hebrews are credited with inventing
the first tanning process using oak bark. The
American Indians used fish oil for the same
purpose. American colonists found that plants
such as the hemlock and chest-nut trees could
also be used for tanning.

7. HISTORY
• In the 19th century, machines were developed
to perform these processes and an American
chemist developed a tanning method using
chromium salts that cut the processing time
from weeks or months to just a few hours.

8. COMPANIES
Company Name: GENUINELEATHER
Business Type: Distributor/Wholesaler
Product/Service: Leather
Address: San Roque, Marikina
Company Name: J.J. Agustin Trading
Business Type: Distributor/Wholesaler, Other
Product/Service: Wet Salted Raw Hide & Skins, Water Buffalo Horns
Address: Mandurriao, Iloilo CIty
Company Name: Golden Fortune Prime Source, Inc.
Business Type: Manufacturer, Distributor/Wholesaler
Product/Service: Stingray and exotic skin furniture, etc.
Address: Quezon City

9. RAW MATERIALS
• SKIN/HIDES
– from cows, pigs, goats, and sheep;
– exotic animals such as alligators, ostriches,
and kangaroos

10. RAW MATERIALS
• TANNING MATERIALS
– Vegetable - extracts from the bark and
wood of trees (oak, wattle etc.).
– Mineral - in the main, trivalent chromium
sulphate.
– Aldehydes - formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde
or oxazolidine
– Synthetic replacements

11. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
• the impact of livestock
• the heavy use of polluting chemicals in the
tanning process
• air pollution due to the transformation
process
• Leather biodegrades slowly

12. MANUFACTURE
• Trimming

13. MANUFACTURE
• Soaking
• Fleshing

14. MANUFACTURE
• Dehairing, reliming, deliming

15. MANUFACTURE
• Bating and Pickling - serves to prepare the
hide for the actual base tannage

16. MANUFACTURE
• The Tanning process – Chrome Tanning

17. MANUFACTURE
• Neutralizing – removes unwanted acids

18. MANUFACTURE
• Wringing/Siding
Wet blue hides after tanning and being wrung

19. MANUFACTURE
• Splitting

20. MANUFACTURE
• Shaving

21. MANUFACTURE
• Retanning (Vegetable Tanning)
Wet blue hides after receiving a vegetable retannage - now "natural" in color.

22. MANUFACTURE
• Fat liquioring/hot stuffing
A stuffing mill about to be pulled - the drum is made of wood and the door has
been removed to allow the leather to cool enough to be handled.

23. MANUFACTURE
• Fat liquoring/hot stuffing

24. MANUFACTURE
• Drying

25. MANUFACTURE
• Finishing
Hand "swabbing" dye coats.

26. MANUFACTURE
• Finishing
Leather in the "stick dryer" after receiving dye coats.

27. MANUFACTURE
• For the most part, the leather is complete at
this point, and it’s ready to be sorted, graded,
packed, and shipped.