The Leather Finishing Process - Stage Two

Following on from Stage One (see previous entry on 1/12), the hide is bathed in chromium salts - these are absorbed deep into the skin.

This stage is called ‘Wet Blue’, so called due to the chromium salts turning the immersed hide a blue-ish colour. The hide is then checked for quality. This assessment is carried out by a trained professional. They choose certain hides for grade one, or otherwise known as top quality, applications and they choose others for more hard-wearing applications. This is an extremely specialised stage.

After this process, the leather is then separated in to layers. The top layer is the most luxurious aniline leather, known also as ‘full grain’. The second layer, known as corrected grain, is the leather most commonly used in furniture production. And finally, the lower layers being the lower quality split leather.

The hide is then shaved to create a consistent thickness all over the hide. Following this, the hide is re-tanned and re-dyed using different forms of oils and dyes. This adds colour and gives further lubrication too, so the leather takes on a more supple feel. The leather is then stretch-dried in a specially equipped oven.