Whitepaper Leather Softness

How to make soft leather?

In this whitepaper Royal Smit & Zoon is sharing a synopsis on the topic of leather softness. Learn about the important aspects when making soft leather, the influence of wet end processes and what Royal Smit & Zoon products are most suitable for your optimal leather properties.

A leather’s softness is one of its most striking features and perhaps the property constituting its prominent initial appeal. Unknown to the purchaser is that this very particular appeal constitutes a delicate balancing act between the various processes and the way each individual step is taken.

How to influence softness during post-tanning processing

For this paper the focus is on the influence of post-tanning processing. The various influences of the previous steps are too varied to discuss in a general way. Moreover, a lot of crust is made from wet blue of outside origin. Where it comes from and how it was made is not always known and the material available needs to be taken as a given fact.

Retanning and fatliquoring processes need to be developed for the leathers available under consideration of their peculiarities.