Hide and Skin Quality
Raw material quality is a prime concern of tanners the world
over. The tanning industry and the downstream industries which
it supplies - footwear, furniture, automotive, clothing, leathergoods,
saddlery - are entirely dependent for their raw material on
supplies of cattle hides and sheep skins, plus a small number
of goat and other skins. While supplies and quality of hides
and skins are vital to the tanning industry, they are just by-products
for the meat, dairy or wool industries. For the tanner, the
raw hides and skins represent 50-60% of the cost of producing
a piece of leather.
In order for many companies in the leather industry to be
competitive, they specialise in producing particular types
of leather - for example high quality and high performance
leathers. However the potential benefits can only be fully
realised when the hides and skins available to the industry
reach a consistent quality, allowing tanners to buy with confidence
that the material will be suitable for the manufacture of
leather to meet their target markets.
The quality of leather that the tanner can produce is determined
primarily by the quality of the raw hides that he buys. But
the quality of the hides cannot be fully assessed until after
the hair or wool has been removed, and after the completion
of the tanning process when the hide has been turned into
leather. The value of the hide depends on the end use to which
the leather goes. This eventually has to be reflected in what
the tanner pays for his raw material
The quality of the hide or skin is to a large extent related
to the amount of damage to the grain (or "outside")
surface. The damage may be due to skin parasites that affect
the live animal, related scratch, husbandry practices on the
farm or in transport of the live animal (scratches, bruising,
or dirt contamination); it may be due to damage during slaughter
or removal of the hide; or it may be caused by inappropriate
handling or inadequate preservation techniques. Most types
of damage can be reduced or avoided altogether by better management
of the animal or the hide.
The international organisation that specialises in the improvement
of hide and skin quality is IHATIS - the International Hide
and Allied Trades Improvement Society (Tel/Fax + 44 (0) 1273
472830).
As part of a project funded by the European Commission, a
network was developed of researchers into improvement in the
quality of hides and skins under the FAIR project. Background
information on hide and skin quality issues can be found on
the project website:
http://www.leathercouncil.org/fair
Areas identified for further research and development are
a need for further investigation into the operating methods
of delivering clean animals to the abattoir without damaging
the hide or skin, optimum methods of minimising parasite damage
to hides and skins, practical and economic methods of identifying
hides and skins through the chain from farmer to tanner where
quality can be fully assessed, and development and evaluation
of quality improvement systems, in order to provide some incentive
to farmers and/or abattoirs to reflect much more directly
the quality and value of the hide in the price.
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