Process steps

Storage and sorting
Raw goods are stored in refrigerated rooms.

Steeping
Steeping removes dirt and salt used for preservation from the raw material and restores its original water content.

Fleshing
During fleshing, tissue, flesh and fat residues are removed with sharp knives.

Liming
The hair is detached from the skin in the lime bath by adding lime and sulphur compounds.

Splitting
The leather is split to obtain a uniform grain of a certain thickness. The resulting split leather can be further processed, including into suede.

Mordanting, bating, tanning
During mordanting and bating, the hide is prepared for tanning with acid and salt. The skin fibres absorb the tanning agents during tanning. This turns the raw hide into leather.

Withering
The wet leathers are dewatered by withering.

Sorting
The leathers are sorted according to various quality criteria.

Folding
The grain leather is brought to an even thickness. Unevenness is removed on the reverse side. The leather is then assembled into dye lots.

Neutralising, filling, dyeing, greasing
The acid from the tanning process is first neutralised. Depending on the type of leather, this is followed by filling and dyeing with water-soluble dyes. Finally, the softness required for the finished leather is achieved by adding fats.

Stretching, drying
Three methods are used to dry the leather: stretching (mechanical squeezing out of the water), vacuum drying, in which the moisture is removed with negative pressure, and drying by hanging, in which the leathers are dried with a stream of hot air.

Breaking tool
To soften the leather after drying, it is mechanically rolled (broken) and prepared for finishing in further process steps.

Finishing
The leather is given its final appearance in a final surface treatment step. By priming, applying colour, dressing, pressing and ironing, the leather is given a glossy or matt, single or multi-coloured, smooth or grained surface, depending on the fashion requirements. The art of finishing consists of applying wafer-thin layers to the leather without compromising its appearance and valued properties, such as suppleness and breathability.

Quality control
The quality is checked repeatedly between all process steps. The final inspection checks whether the individual production batches comply with all specifications for the leather type or sample. The leathers are also sorted according to various quality characteristics.

Shipping
The leathers are measured electronically, packed and sent to the shipping department.