How a leather product is made

How do we turn raw hides into beautiful leather goods like shoes, bags and jackets?

Cleaning the raw hides in the beamhouse

The beamhouse is the first stage in the leather-making process. Here, the raw hide is cleaned and then soaked, dehaired and degreased.

Once the hides are completely clean, they are split into a grain layer – used for full grain leather and nubuck items – and a split layer, which is destined for suede and split-hide leathers. Splitting makes the leather thinner and more flexible. Splitting can either be performed in the beamhouse or during the subsequent tanning stage. Hides split in the beamhouse are typically used in the automotive and aviation industries, and in interior design. Hides split at the tanning stage are generally intended for shoes and leather goods such as bags and coats.

Preparing the hides for a wide variety of applications

Next up after the beamhouse stage is tanning. The tanning stage involves drying and preserving the hide to create a flexible form that will last. Tanning also readies the hide for further processing, such as dyeing the leather. And depending on which tanning agents you use and for how long, tanning can change the appearance of the hide.

Re-tanning, dyeing and fat-liquoring to give character to the leather

The next stage, re-tanning, is all about giving the leather the ‘character’ you desire. During re-tanning, you can change the look, feel, fullness, weight and color of the leather to add the characteristics that make a particular bag, jacket, car seat or other end product stand out in the marketplace.

Improving the leather quality and finishing it with style

Even after having been given the desired characteristics in the re-tanning stage, applying a surface coating can help improve the leather quality even further. This leather finishing may include oiling, brushing, embossing, giving it a matte or gloss finish or create a standout design color finishing.

Transforming the leathers to fashionable items

Once finished, the finished leathers are shipped to manufacturers who transform the leathers into fashionable items such as car seats, a beautiful leather bag or a stylish shoe. And that is how a leather product is made.