Craft · 6 pages · 12 min

How leather is tanned

Tanning cross-links the collagen in a hide so the skin resists rot and stays flexible when it dries.

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From the opening

A raw hide is a mat of collagen fibers that will rot if left wet and dry hard as rawhide if simply stretched. Tanning treats those fibers so they resist decay and can dry into a material that still bends. The opening covers collagen is cross-linked, bark tannins or chrome salts, and fatliquor keeps fibers sliding.

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Inside

Collagen is cross-linked
Bark tannins or chrome salts
Fatliquor keeps fibers sliding
A raw core is unfinished
Where the idea stops applying
A distinction worth keeping

Sources

Collagen cross-linking in tanning
Vegetable and chrome tannage

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How leather is tanned

From the opening

Inside

Sources

Also on the desk