National Clothesline

Tanning is the process by which the skins of animals become leather and are no longer subject to rotting.

Tanning of hides and the wearing of leather is not new. In fact tanned skins were worn by the first man and woman on the Earth, Adam and Eve.

“Unto Adam and his wife God made coats of skins and clothed them.” Genesis 3:21.

So, then, the first tanner was God and the first man and woman to wear the skins of animals were Adam and Eve. The skins of the animals used to make the clothes for Adam and Eve were the by-product of the first animal blood sacrifice for the atonement of the sin of disobedience of God who said they should not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Today the skins of animals used to make suedes and leathers are the by-product of the food industry. They are left after we eat steaks, lamb chops and pork chops.

After Adam and Eve, man slowly devised ways to soften and preserve the skins of animals. At first the skins were air dried in sunlight. Then they were soaked in water and dried over a fire. The smoke emitted by burning leaves and green twigs contained an element called aldehyde and resulted in tanning of the skins.

Later, vegetable tanning was discovered when the bark of trees like oak were soaked with the skins in water to preserve the skins.

As civilization progressed, preserving and tanning skins was refined to present-day methods, which utilize tannic acids and chrom tanning agents in water to turn hides and skins into leather.

Today, water is used extensively as the carrying agent for the chemicals and dyes used throughout the tanning process. So the suedes and leathers you accept for wetcleaning are no strangers to water and additives.

Therefore, you should not think it strange that suedes and leathers can be wetcleaned in water treated with the proper additives.

To better understand this leather-water relationship. we will examine the steps in the tanning process that involve the use of water.

First, the hides are soaked in chemically treated water to restore moisture and remove dirt and salt in a process called soaking. At the end of the soak, the skins are washed by introducing more fresh water.

Next, the hides are placed in a blue lime solution in water in vats with revolving paddles. Here the hair is loosened and certain soluble proteins are removed in the chemically treated water. This process is called paddling.

Then, in large drums, the unhairing chemicals are removed by soaking the skins in a water solution with bating enzymes.

Later, in the same drums, the hides are pickled in acid in water so they will accept chrome tanning agents. Once these are added, tanning takes place and the hides become leather and are no longer subject to rotting. The leather is then retanned for increased softness by the addition of three chemical agents called syntans to water.

Then the base color is blended and added to water in drums for vat dyeing. Afterwards, the leather in the drum is washed with water to remove excess dye.

The next step in tanning involving water is called wetting back. Here a controlled volume of moisture is introduced to the leather by passing it through a fine mist of water to adjust the final moisture content in the leather.

Water is used extensively as the carrying agent throughout the tanning process.

The steps in the tanning process that involve immersing in water are the following:

Soaking: In water to remove dirt and salt and to restore moisture.

Washing: In fresh water after the soaking.

Unhairing: In water blue lime solution to loosen hair and remove soluble proteins.

Soaking: In water with bating enzymes to remove the unhairing chemicals

Pickling: In water in acid to prepare skins to accept chrome tanning agents.

Tanning: In water chrome tanning agents are added and skins become leather.

Retanning: In water by adding three chemical agents called syntans for softness.

Dyeing: In water by adding dye to water to give color to the leather.

Washing: In water to remove excess dye from the leather.

Wetting back: With water to provide the proper moisture level to the leather.

As you can see, the suedes and leathers you accept for wetcleaning are no strangers to water containing additives. So you should not think it strange that suedes and leathers can be wetcleaned in any kind of a washing machine from a home washing machine to a large commercial washing machine and every washing machine in between.

Warning: I do not recommend that you try wetcleaning your suedes and leathers with the same soap, water and dryer you use to wetclean or wash cloth items. Doing so will result in color loss and stiff hard skins.

However, using a detergent plus conditioner like Prosuede Wet for the soap and following the Royaltone washing and drying procedures described on every product container, accompanying instructions, and in my book, audio cassette and one-on-one DVD video teachings, you will be able to successfully wetclean your own suedes and leathers and pocket all the money.

Start with one or two suedes or leathers at a time using any washing machine that you have, including your home washer, as well as any washing machine you already have in your own plant.

Now that you are armed with knowledge of how water, with additives, is used to make leather, you will have more confidence that you can safely wetclean suedes and leathers in water with easy to use additives. Act on this information and you will never again have to hand your customers a poorly cleaned suede or leather garment or pay someone else to clean your suedes and leathers to their quality level, which is not necessarily equal to your quality standards.