Have ever wondered how your favourite leather wallet and bags looks so great and long-lasting? There must be some sort of chemicals used in the process of its making. This article will talk about the list of chemicals used in the tanning process.
Here are some of the chemicals used in the tanning process:
- Water (H 2 O) – Although water is only a supporting material, but the role of water is veryimportant. It works as an intermediate or medium to deliver other chemicals into the skin.
- Salt (NaCl) – It can absorb the liquid contained in the skin, so that moisture and salinity become balanced.Salt makes the bacteria become dry and eventually die, so there are no breeding bacteria that cause the skin to be damaged.
- Sodium Sulfide (Na2S) – Sodium sulfide serves to remove the hair.This can happen because the sulphide compound can break the sulphide bridge from the keratin or feather compounds so that the feathers fall out.
- Chalk (Ca(OH) 2) – Lime function is to store oil or fat in the skin, lime duty can transport the remaining protein in the skin.
- Formic acid and Sodium bisulphate – Formic acid and sodium bisulfate are used in the lime residue removal process that is still present in the skin during the feather removal process.
- Sulfate oil – Fish oil with concentrated sulfuric acid sulfate will produce oil, its usefulness for liquoring or anointment in the process of tanning leather.
- Sulfuric acid – The acidification process is used to stop the activation of the enzymes used in the erosion process.
- Formaldehide (CH2O) – Formaldehyde reactions with amino acids that occur in skin proteins are able to change the properties of proteins so that the skin becomes more durable.
- Cromosal B – Cromosal B is derived from Bayer patent product, cromosal B is used in the process of chrome tanning.
- Compound SB – Compound SB comes from Hadson’s product; its usefulness is to increase the basis of the chrome tanning process.
- Mimosa – Mimosas are derived from herbs and produced by hadson and bayer, their use as an ingredient for vegetable tannins containing tannin active substances. Indeed, that’s all chemicals used in the tanning process.
All the chemicals mentioned are produced at the chemical company in the tanning process, all non-colagenic raw skin parts may react with the tanners. The skin becomes so different from the raw skin in organoleptic, physical, and chemical properties.