MANUFACTURING LEATHER STAGE BY STAGE

1.
The manufacturing of leather begins with choosing of raw hides.
Lapuan Nahka Oy uses salted hides mostly from Scandinavian slaughterhouses. The quality of Scandinavian rawhide is one of the world’s finest due to the cool climate and good hygiene. The animals do not encounter barbed wire nor cacti. Nor it is traditional to brand animals in Scandinavia.

2.
The purpose of soaking is to remove the salt added in the slaughterhouse. After soaking the hair is removed chemically. After unhairing the hides are limed overnight. These different stages of the process take place in large, revolving wooden barrels.

3.
In the morning, the pelts – as the hides are called after liming – are washed and cleansed in machines. This so called fleshing removes fat and other dispensable tissue from the pelts.

4.
Next a splitting machine is used to divide hides and skins of stout substance into layers: into grain pelts and split pelts.

5.
The most substantial change in manufacturing hides into leather is tanning. The purpose of tanning is to make easily decaying, temperature sensitive hides into enduring, temperature resistant, well workable and almost everlasting material for many different purposes. This material is leather. There have been different methods with different chemicals and substances in tanning over the years. Nowadays the most common agent is chrome salt. However, also traditional vegetable tan agents are combined with modern chemical technologies in chrome-free tanning.

6.
After tanning, extra water is removed by clenching the leathers between felt cylinders.

7.
Then leathers are made thinner to their final thickness.

8.
Lastly, there is post-tanning that is also carried out in revolving drums. The purpose of this process stage is to chemically affect the qualities of the leather. Post-tanning is the means of providing different qualities required for different types of leather. In addition to this, leathers are dyed throughout and fat-liquored.

9.
At this point, leathers are ready for drying.
First they are set out in a machine.

10.
Drying can be carried out as vacuum drying, toggling or hang drying in poles.
- Vacuum drying
- Toggling
- Hang drying

11.
When leather is dried into suitable moisture content, it is worked into a level of softness required in each case.

12.
After drying, the finishing takes place with a spraying or printing machine.

13.
When necessary, leathers are ironed or embossed.
We use only water-soluble finishing chemicals.

14.
Finally the finished leathers are classified according to their quality and their area is measured.