HomeWaterproof leather solutions

Waterproof leather

Our solutions for making waterproof or water resistant leather

Manufacturing water resistant leather

There is an ongoing high demand for outdoor equipment. For outdoor footwear or other gear, leather is the preferred material. Especially in wet and cold conditions, leather acts as a second breathing skin and maintains a high wearing comfort. Of course, the leather is in that case required to be water resistant and:

  • ensure water does not penetrate and reaches the skin
  • allows for high water vapor permeability and if possible reversible water up-take
  • insulate against heat and cold

How to simplify the process of making waterproof leather?

First of all, it is about obtaining high-quality water-resistant leather. The process of making the leather waterproof matters just as much. How can we simplify the process, use less water and lower the environmental impact? With our product portfolio of water resistance chemicals for retanning, wet end and finishing stages Royal Smit & Zoon offers a complete range to optimize your waterproof leather recipe.

Water resistant products

Wet End solutions

Water repellent leather provides showerproof limited water resistance, which is often achieved through surface coating using finishing products. Water repellency is also created by water resistance on the leather fibers via hydrophobic fatliquors.

Solutions

Synthol RW-New

  • Emulsified synthetic oils
  • Adds genuine body and roundness to the leather
  • A medium grain tightness with soft handle

Synthol EW 321

  • Emulsified synthetic oils
  • A full to very full, medium hard to hard handle
  • All types of leather, especially tested on the Bally method
Synthol DS 600
  • A synthetic polymer-based hydrophobing fatliquor
  • Both Bally and Maeser method
  • Fulfils highest water resistance requirements
Aguastop PS 210
  • A synthetic polymer-based hydrophobing fatliquor
  • All types of leather both Bally and Maeser method
  • Fulfils highest water resistance requirements

Finishing solutions

Solutions

Aguastop W200
  • Fluorine-free waterproofing agent in water dispersion 
  • Applied by spraying on suede and nubuck crust
  • Improves both water-drop and spray test fastness

Aguastop S 10

  • Fluorine-free waterproof agent solvent- based
  • Solvent-based waterproof finishing agent without fluorinated compounds developed to improve the resistance to water
  • Improves both Spray test and waterdrop fastness

Basemask 5566

  • Special pre-ground to support Finishing for water resistant leather 
  • Particularly developed for leather-goods, nappa, shoe-upper and garment 
  • It regularize the absorption of Finishing on the crust

Dukoil 29

  • Special oil environmentally friend designed for water-proof article.
  • It impart a light pull-up effect and give an elegant waxy/greasy feel
  • It keep unchanged physical properties of the crust and it can also improve already existing crust’s water repellency

Dukoil WP

  • Designed product for strong pull-up articles on water-proof leathers 
  • It improve physical properties and it do not highlight crust defects 
  • It impart a very nice waxy feeling 

Wax 52-54

  • Blend of paraffine suitable for any kind of crust.
  • Applied by hot roller coating machine, it impart an extremely clean and hard pull-up effect.
  • Does not reduce water-proofing properties of the crust

Wax 50-52

  • Blend of paraffine suitable for any kind of crust
  • Applied by hot roller coater machine and ironed at 120° C, it impart a shining look with a good sealing effect

Dukoil T3

  • Water based emulsion of synthetic waxes
  • Impart a nice pull-up effect in free-solvent solutions
  • Excellent masking of small/medium crust’s defects

Smitbase 5586

  • Special compound designed for water-proof corrected grain articles
  • It show a nice natural look and high water drop resistance
  • It do not affect water-proofing performances of the crust

Download our Water Resistance Booklet

With our product portfolio of water resistant chemicals for retanning, wet end and finishing stages we offer a complete range to optimize your waterproof leather recipe.

How to make high-quality waterproof leather?

Making waterproof leather is much more than choosing the right fatliquor, this is actually the easiest part. The key is found in the right processes, like running times, temperature control, washing and polyvalent metal fixing.

In the whitepaper “Waterproof Leather” Royal Smit & Zoon is diving in the many different parameters that influence good waterproof leather.

Download the whitepaper