LEATHER

MANUFACTURI
NG PROCESS
PRESENTED BY: SIRAJ AHMAD
FACULTY NO.: 19CHB089
SERIAL NO.: 04
SUBJECT: INDUSTRIAL VISIT/
TRAINING
COURSE CODE: CHC 4910
 LIST OF CONTENTS:

Introduction
National & International Scenario
About The Industry
Process Description
Major Unit Operations & Unit Processes
List of Raw Materials used
Leather Manufacturing Process
And so on….
 INTRODUCTION:
History of leather is not only a story of the
evolution of an article of fashion, it is the history
of fashion itself.
Leather making process has been in use for more
than 7000 years.
In medieval India, leather has been used as a form
of currency by Indian Rulers.
Leather is one the most widely traded commodities
globally.
The growth in demand is driven by the fashion
industry, especially footwear, furniture, as well as
in automotive industry.
 NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL
SCENARIO:
India is the second largest producer of footwears and leather garments in the world,
and also the second largest exporter of leather garments.
Leather Industry is an employment intensive sector, providing jobs to about 4.5 million
people, mostly coming from weaker sections of the society.
Women employment has a dominant share in this sector with 30% female employees.
Major centres of leather manufacturing in India are West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab
and Karnataka.
The Global Leather Goods Market capital is valued at 245 billion dollars in 2022 and
is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.6% from 2023 to 2030.
 ABOUT THE INDUSTRY:
ZAIN INTERNATION:

Zain International is one of the leading manufacturers and

exporters of Finished Leather and Leather Safety Shoe Uppers
Worldwide.
The Company was set up in 2001, and its CEO is Mr. Mohd.
Qaiyum.
Their Production capacity is 0.5 million sq.ft. of finished
leather sheets per month.
They also have a production capacity of 75000 pairs of safety
shoe uppers and 25000 pairs of Safety Shoes.
 PROCESS DESCRIPTION:

Leather Making Process is basically a series of operations that are carried out, in order to transform
the Raw Hides into usable Leather.
The entire process of leather manufacturing, can be summarized into the following major operation,
where each of the operation in itself contains many sub-operations.

FAT-
RAW PRE- FINISHIN FINISHED
TANNING LIQUORING LEATHER
HIDES TANNING G
& DYEING
 MAJOR UNIT OPERATIONS &
PROCESSES:
MAJOR UNIT OPERATIONS include the MAJOR UNIT PROCESSES include the
following: following:
Mechanical Pressing Liming
Buffing Deliming
Nailing Pickling
Padding Dyeing
Embossing Fat-Liquoring
Splitting and Shaving Neutralization
And so on…. And so on….
 LIST OF RAW MATERIALS USED:
• During the Leather Manufacturing process, there are a lot of Raw Materials that are required
for the conversion of Raw Hides into Finished Leather Sheets. These are listed below:
 Raw Hides
 Common Salt
 Ammonium Chloride
 Sulphuric Acid
 Formic Acid
 Basic Chrome Sulphate
 Dyes
 Different Types of Oils
 As well as many other chemicals
 LEATHER MANUFACTURING
PROCESS:
Leather Manufacturing Process can generally be divided into 4
broad categories namely:
BEAM HOUSE OPERATIONS: These include the initial steps
of Salting, Soaking, Liming, and Fleshing.
TANYARD: These operations include the steps of Bating,
Pickling, Tanning, Drying and Splitting.
RE-TANNING: This include the process of Fat-Liquoring,
Dyeing, and Setting.
FINISHING: It is the final stage in the manufacturing of
Leather Sheets. It includes the operations such as Mechanical
Pressing, Buffing, Padding, Embossing and Lacquer.
 SOAKING & SCUDDING:
SOAKING: During Soaking operation, we take salted
hides and place them in a sink having rotating pedals. In
this, we add:
 Water = 200%
 Soap = 2% for 8 to 10 hours
 Preservative = 0.05%
• After this, we will wash the hides with water to remove any
amount of salt, if present.
SCUDDING: Washed hides are sent to scudding machine
for peeling off any flesh or blubber attached to the inner
sides of the hide.
 LIMING:
LIMING: It is done to reduce the acidity of the hides. In
this process, we will add:
 Anti-Wrinkle (MB) = 0.3% for 5 hours
 Soda Ash = 0.25%
• After this, we will add:
 Sodium Bicarbonate = 2.5 to 3% for 36 hours
 Lime = 6%
• These are added in two parts of equal amount, at an
interval of 60 minutes.
• Liming Process is generally done for 36 hours.
• We have to operate the pedals of the sink for 5 minutes, at
each interval of 60 minutes.
 DELIMING:
DELIMING: In Deliming, we keep the hides in a rotating mill.
This is generally done in 2 steps. First, we will add:
 Ammonium Chloride = 2 to 2.5% for 2 hours
 Sodium Meta Bisulphite = 0.3%
• This will reduce the pH of hides from Basic to Acidic.
• The amount of Ammonium Chloride used depends upon the type
of hide that is being processed.
In Second Step, we will add:
 Bate Powder = 0.25% for 60 minutes
 DLA = 0.2%
• Now we will test for the acidity of hides using Phenolphthalein
Indicator (It must turn Pink).
 WASHING & PICKLING:
First, we will wash the hides thoroughly to remove all the chemicals
that are attached to its surface.
For Pickling Operation, we will add:
 Water = 50% for 30 minutes
 Common Salt = 7%
• Salt is used to Neutralize the pH of hides.
After this, we will add:
 Conc. Sulphuric Acid = 2 to 2.5% for 5 hours
• We will divide the acid into 5 equal parts and will add each part to the
hides at an interval of 15 minutes, and the mill will operate for another
5 hours.
At the end, we will test the hides using BROMOCRESOL BLUE
Indicator (It should turn Yellow).
 CHROME TANNING:
First, we will remove the excess water from the mill. Now, for
Chroming Process, we will first add:
 BCS = 3% for 60 minutes
After this, we will add:
 BCS = 2%
 Sodium Formate = 0.5% for 3 hours
 Preservative = 0.05%
In the Next Step, we will add:
 Water = 100% for 6 hours
 MG 821 = 0.5%
In the end, we will add:
 Sodium Carbonate = 0.2% for 2 hours
In this step, hides are converted into WET BLUE.
At the end, we will check the quality by BOIL TEST.
 SQUEEZING:
The Wet BLUE that is produced contains a lot of water
which needs to be drained out.
For this, we will use 2 drying operations in series, which
are:
• Using Mechanical Rollers or Squeezers to remove the water
that has been soaked by the Wet Blue. This will remove most
of the moisture from within the surface of Wet Blue.
• To ensure complete removal of moisture, the mechanically
dried Blue is kept in an open atmosphere where all the
remaining moisture content of the Blue will evaporate and
we can obtain completely dehydrated Blue.
 SPLITTING & SHAVING:
SPLITTING: It is done to make leather sheets of desired
thickness
• In Splitting Operation, we cut the leather sheet along its
cross section in order to form 2 thinner sheets of leather.
• The Top layer is known as GRAIN, while the Bottom
layer is termed as SPLIT.
SHAVING: It is done to make leather sheets of desired
thickness by shaving off the extra material on the leather
sheets.
• It help us to set the gauge of leather sheets to a desired
value.
• It makes the leather sheets more even.
 FAT LIQUORING & DYEING:
1. RE-TANNING: It is done to refine the quality of tanned
leather. In this, our first step will be to add:
 Formic Acid = 0.3% for 45 minutes
• In second step, we will add:
 BCS = 4.5%
 Sodium Formate = 0.5% for 90 minutes
 Fish Oil (F-2021) = 1%

2. NEUTRALIZATION: As the leather, at this stage; has

become Acidic, hence, we have to neutralize it by
adding the adequate amount of base to it. For
Neutralization, we will add:
 Sodium Carbonate = 1.1% for 90 minutes
 ….

3) PRE-DYEING: First, we will wash the leather sheets with

water and then we add the following:
 Sodium Formate = 1.5%
 Sodium carbonate = 2.5% for 3 hours
 ABC = 0.75%
 This is done to make the upcoming process of Dyeing, more
effective.
4) PRE-FAT LIQUORING: Once again, we will wash the
sheets with water for 20 minutes. Then we will add:
 DE (oil) = 2% for 90 minutes
 F-2021 (Fish Oil) = 2.5%
 This is done to lubricate and soften the leather sheets.
 ….
5) DYEING: It is the operation that is done to provide
desired colour to the leather. For this, we will add:
• Catechu = 4%
• GS = 3% for 120 minutes
• OS = 1.5%
• Nigrosine = 0,95%
• Here, Nigrosine is the Dyeing Agent used to provide
Black colour to the sheets.
• OS and GS are the activators, while catechu is used to
enhance the dyeing operation.
• To ensure that the Dyeing has been completed
properly, we have to do CROSS CHECK Test.
 ….
6) FAT-LIQUORING: In this step, we first increase the amount
of water in the mill, and then we add different types of oils
such as:
 V-2021 = 1%
 SSC = 1.5%
 PXE = 1.5% for 90 minutes
 S-2021 = 1%
 Soap = 0.15%
• This process makes the leather softer, durable, stronger and
more flexible.
7) FIXING: This operation helps the leather to retain all the
oils and fats that are being provided to it. For this, we will add:
 Formic Acid = 1% for 90 minutes
• Acid must be divided into 3 equal parts and each must be
added at an interval of 15 minutes.
 SETTING, NAILING & TRIMMING:
SETTING: This operation is done by a specific
machine known as Setting Machine which is used to
squeeze all the water out of the leather sheets, as well
as, it stretches the entire sheet to its fullest.
• After Setting Operation, the sheets are kept in a dark
room for 1 day to evaporate any amount of water that
couldn’t be removed by Setting.
NAILING: In Nailing, Leather sheets are spread over
a wooden board and left to dry in direct sunlight for
the entire day.
TRIMMING: Once the Nailing is completed, the
uneven edges of the sheets are cut to give the sheets a
proper shape.
 MECHANICAL PRESS, BUFFING &
PADDING:
MECHANICAL PRESS: In this, a heavy press is used to
stretch the leather sheets and to eliminate any wrinkles, if
present, on the leather surface.
• It also provide the sheets with an even and a shiny surface.
BUFFING: It is generally done to provide the leather with a
much smoother finish. In this process, a Buffing wheel rotates
over the leather sheets and remove all the extra material
present on the leather surface, providing it a smoother finish.
PADDING: It is the process of colouring the sheets by using
artificial colours. It is done make the sheets look more
attractive.
 EMBOSSING & RE-PADDING:
EMBOSSING: It is a technique used to enhance the
appearance of leather sheets. In this technique, a
Mechanical Press having a design embossed on one side
is used over the leather sheets to imprint the desired
pattern onto the sheet surface.
• It is also used to create textures on the leather surface.
RE-PADDING: It is done to ensure that all the sheets are
coloured evenly and there is no difference in their
appearance.
• It also makes up for the loss of colour during the
embossing operation.
• Padding is done until we get the desired colour.
 LACQUER, MEASUREMENT &
STORAGE:
LACQUER: It is a clear pigmented coating, which is
applied over the coloured sheets of leather to produce hard,
durable and a glossy finish.
• It helps the leather to retain its colour for a long period of
time.
• It also protects the leather from Bacteria and other
Degrading Agents.
• It gives a final touch to the leather sheets.
MEASUREMENT & STORING: The finished leather
sheets are measured and inspected. If they pass the
inspection, they are packed properly and they can now be
stored easily in any closed room for a long period of time,
without any degradation in the quality of leather.
 REFERENCES:
• J Hewit & Sons Ltd, LEATHER MANUFACTURERS, Volume 42 – Autumn 2016
https://www.hewit.com/skin_deep/?volume=42&article=3
• Council For Leather Exports (CLE), Sponsored Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of
India, https://leatherindia.org/indian-leather-industry/
• Industrial Enzymes for Sustainable Bio-Economy: Large Scale Production and Application in
Industry, Environment, and Agriculture in Eastern Africa - Scientific Figure on ResearchGate.
Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Flow-chart-of-leather-tanning-
process_fig2_268063448 [accessed 21 Feb, 2023]
• LEATHER DICTIONARY, All About Leather,
https://www.leather-dictionary.com/index.php/Leather_production
• Guidelines for Environmental Improvement in Leather Tannery Sector, Central Pollution Control
Board, March 2019,
https://cpcb.nic.in/openpdffile.php?id=TmV3c0ZpbGVzLzcyXzE1NTQ0NTY2NDhfbWVkaWFw
aG90bzIyMTYwLnBkZg==