Skin and Hide

(Methods of Flaying, Defects, Preservation and Tanning)

Hides — In general the term hide includes raw, dressed or tanned skins of bullocks, cows,
buffaloes, horses, camels etc.
Skin — (a) A general term for the outer covering of an animal, (b) In the strict sense, the
outer covering of animals of smaller kinds, for example, sheep and goats; or of the immature
animals of the larger species, for example, calves and colts. In most countries pigs, reptiles,
birds and fish are included under’ Skins’ but in Germany they are included under ‘Hides’.
Leather—A general term for hide or skin with its original fibrous structure more or less
intact, tanned to be imputrescible.

Flaying: It is the skinning operation performed by skilled worker. Improper flaying will
lower its value.

Kips— Light weight medium cow hides (Indian) obtained from animals which have died a
natural death.
Slunks — Skins of still-born calves weighing 2 kg or less in the green condition and 1 kg and
less in the dry condition.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF HIDES & SKINS

The chemical composition of fresh hides and skins falls approximately within the following
limits:

Water 60%-65%

Protein 25%-30%

Fats 5%-10%

Most hides and skins consist of three parts, such as

(i) Epidermis, (ii) Corium or true skin and (iii) Hypodermic or adipose tissue.

Epidermis : The epidermis is a comparatively thin layer which forms the upper boundary of
the skin. This layer measures only 1% the total thickness of the skin and serves to protect the
corium which is the most important part of the skins.

Corium : The corium is a much thicker layer of connective and other tissues which constitute
the true leather forming substance of the hides and skins. The corium is divided into two
distinct layers:

a. Corium minor or grain layer:

b. Corium major or reticular layer:

Hypodermic or adipose tissue: The adipose tissue is the tissue left adhering to the flash side
of the hide of skin.
GENERAL PROPERTIES OF LEATHER

The physical properties which make leather a unique and valuable material for upholstery
purposes are:

1. High tensile strength

2. Resistance to tear
3. High flexibility.
4. High resistance to puncture
5. Good heat insulation: Leather contains a great deal of air, which is a poor conductor of
heat. This is an important comfort consideration.
6. Permeability to water vapour: Leather fibres will hold large quantities of water vapour.
This property enables leather to absorb perspiration, which is later dissipated. A significant
factor in comfort.
7. Thermostatic properties: Leather is warm in winter and cool in summer.
8. Mouldability: Leather can be moulded and will retain its new shape. It has both elastic and
plastic properties in wear.
9. Resistance to wet and dry abrasion: These properties, concerned with wear and
maintenance, are controlled by the tannage and surface finish. These have now reached high
levels of excellence.
10. Resistance to fire: Leather is inherently resistant to heat and flame.
11. Resistance to fungi: Leather is resistant to mildew/ fungi/ mould etc.
12. Resistance to chemical attack.
Flaying of Cattle and Buffalo: Withdrawal of feed for at least 18 hrs prior to slaughter
facilitates flaying and avoids useless cuts.

1. Animal is placed on a skinning cradle made of SS or smooth timber.

2. With the help of a flaying knife, hide is first opened from the neck and continued straight
along with the middle of the dewlap and belly to the middle of the tail.
3. Each leg opened by making an encircling cut between the knee and hock joint.
4. The cut on the foreleg is continued to the breast bone and that of the hind leg up to the
scrotum or udder to meet the longitudinal cut.
5. The hide is than separated from the carcass by cutting from the lower part of the breast
towards the neck on one side and towards naval on the other side.
6. Now the carcass is partially raised on an overhead rail by putting a gambrel on the hock
joint of the animal and the hide is removed from the tail.
7. Thereafter the carcass is further raised on the overhead rail and then the hide is pulled off
the back to the hump and then to the shoulder and neck separating the thick subcutaneous
tissue with a flaying knife.
8. Thereafter the hide is completely separated from the body of the animal by simply giving
a cut behind the horns.

Flaying of Fallen/ Dead Animal: Entire flaying operation is done on a skinning cradle made
of wood. But care should be taken not to open carcass died of infectious diseases.

Fig: Schematic diagram of a Cattle/ Buffalo carcass showing the Ripping Lines.

Flaying of Sheep and Goat:

1. After completion of bleeding, a small incision is made on the inner side of the hind leg
above the hock joint.
2. A narrow steel rod or a smooth wooden rod is now inserted in this incision and pushed
under the skin towards the lower part of the body for about 45 cm. This rod loosens the
connective tissue between the skin and the body, thus, minimizing the use of knife which
could cause cuts and scores etc.
3. After removing the rod, a hand cut is made around the incision and air is blown inside
with the help of a hand or foot pump.
4. Due to inflow of air, the carcass is uniformly inflated like a balloon and is hoisted on the
overhead rail or a tripod by the hind legs.
5. Now the skin is removed from the carcass by making the following cuts-
i. Circular cut around the knee and hock.
ii. Cut around the scrotum/ udder.
iii. A circular cut on the neck to remove the head skin.
6. Now the fingers followed by fist are inserted into the incision on the hind legs. The skin
is pulled downward and a flaying knife is used when required. When it reaches chest, the
worker use to take out the skin from the body of the animal by pulling downwards.
Preservation of Skin and Hides:

Hides and skins are quite prone to spoilage due to bacterial or enzymatic decomposition as it
contains more than 60% water and many putrefying organisms. Therefore, steps should be
taken to preserve them soon after flaying.

1. The 1st step is washing to remove blood, dirt etc. which hasten putrefaction. This is done
with the help of a scrubbing brush by placing the skin/hide on a platform under cold
water. Washing is always done on the flesh side only.
2. All the unnecessary parts are removed which have no value as leather and to conform to
standard pattern.
3. Green hides should be delivered to the tanners or can be preserved for a short duration of
time. The basic principle of preservation is to reduce moisture either by providing free
air circulation or application of salty and combination of both. The main preservation
methods are:
i. Air Drying
ii. Hide Curing (Salting)

Air Drying: It is an older method of preservation and mostly followed in areas where RH is
low. This method takes minimum 7 days to dry the skin/hide. It can be divided as

a) Ground Drying: It consist of stretching out the hides with their flesh side up. It is a
cheaper, easily adoptable for rural people or for fallen hides. Disadvantages of this
method are: Formation of blemishes, hair slip, blisters, putrefaction of epidermis and hair
follicle, wrinkle formation in summer months.
b) Suspension Drying: It is simple, cheap and efficient method of drying suitable in tropical
countries. It allows free circulation of air, sun rays strikes the skin/hide obliquely and
cooling of hides takes place very rapidly. The hide becomes lighter after drying and easy
to transport.
c) Frame drying: It is done by putting the skin/hide on a frame which may be in the shape
of hoop, tripod, square etc.
d) Line Drying: Suitable for sheep/ goat skin. Skins are spread on a horizontal cord with
flesh side up.
e) Tent drying: Suspended over the ground in the shape of a tent by cords of wires.

Hide Curing (Salting): Hide curing or salting has been divided into two types:

a) Dry Salting or Salt Packing: It is widely used in tropical; countries. It helps in initial
removal of moisture and the remaining moisture being removed by exposure to air. The
room used for dry salting should have a temperature of about 15oC and a RH of 85-90%
with proper ventilation and a slatted platform. It involves staking the hides with flesh
side up and applying fine salt (2-3mm) evenly. The quantity of salt is 1 lb of salt per
pound of hide. This salt level controls bacterial growth and draws moisture out of the
hides which drains on to the floor.
 Preservatives are also added in this method with the salt. (1% NaF or 1% naphthalene +
1% Boric Acid or ZnO/ Na metabisulphate). Staking should not be done for more than
1meter height. The hide is allowed to cure for 20-30 days and can be kept in good
condition up-to 1-2 years. However, the salt is not reused as it may become contaminated
with salt resistant bacteria. If reused, it might be sterilized first.

b) Wet Salting: It is done by preparing a cure solution consisting of 23 kg pure salt and 62
kg of water for 100 kg of hides. A saturated brine solution can also be used for the
purpose. Chlorinated lime or other antibacterial agents are used. The hides are soaked in
this solution in a pit of 1.25 m for few days. The time varies from 48 hrs for fleshed
hides and 2 weeks for unfleshed hides. Thereafter, the hides are put on the slatted
platform for draining.

Tanning: Tanning is the conversion of hides and skin into insoluble and nonputrescible
leather without destruction of the original structure.

Steps in Tanning:

1. Soaking/ Conditioning: To restore hide moisture and also to bring the skin/hide to its
original shape and dimensions. It is done with the help of clean water added with
detergent and disinfectant eg. ZnCl2 & Mixture of Soda Ash and borax. It is done for 8-
10 hrs.
2. Washing: Washing with fresh water to remove any dirt, manure, salt, blood and lymph
etc.
3. Fleshing: It is done in a convex wooden structure by scrapping the flesh side with a
serrated knife.
4. Liming and dehairing: A saturated solution of lime (CaO & Ca(OH)2) & 0.1% Sodium
Sulphide remove and loosen hair & epidermal cells. Temperature 32oC for 20 hrs.
5. Washing & Deliming: The hides are now washed with weak acid to neutralize the lime.
6. Bating: The hides are treated with proteolytic enzymes. Generally pancreatic juice mixed
with saw dust at pH 8.5 is used. It results in soft and pliable skin and takes about 16 hrs.
7. Pickling: It is done for chrom-tanning where skins are pickled in a bath of 1% sulphuric
acid and 10% salt in water at pH 2.5 for 2-3 hrs. Salt is used to prevent swelling by tying
up excessive moisture.
8. Tanning:
I. Chrome-Tanning: It is a popular method because it yields soft, supple and
strong leather. Time requirement is very less. This is done in a rotating drum
where NaHCO3, one reducing sugar (maltose) and sulphuric acid are mixed
properly and then sodium or potassium dichromate is added at pH 2.8. Here the
bichromate will convert into Chromic Sulphate. The chromic sulphate is the main
tanning agent and therefore it is known as chrome tanning. However, Chromic
sulphate can also be used directly @ 1.5-3%, but the pH of the mixture should be
raised to 3.5 to increase the affinity of collagen to chrome. During chrome
tanning, cross linkage is accomplished by bonding of the various chrom ions with
free carboxyl group in the collagen side chain. Time requirement 4-6 hrs.
 II. Vegetable Tanning: It is a traditional method requiring more time. It involves
immersion of the hides and skin in the plant extract containing tannin. Normally
Avarum, Babul & Myrabalan trees are used.
9. Setting or Wringing: To remove excess tanning liquid or moisture by pressing.
10. Splitting & Shaving: To adjust the leather thickness.
11. Dyeing: To give desired color.
12. Fat liquoring: An emulsion of oils or greases in water usually with an emulsifying agent
used to lubricate the fibres of tanned leathers. It is primarily done to make the leather
water resistant.
13. Staking: Flexing leather to separate fibres sticking together and thus to make it softer.
14. Buffing: To make the grain surface of leather smoother and to give a good appearance.
15. Glazing: To produce a glassy coating on the surface of the leather.

White Leather: It is produced by Alum Tanning {Al-K(SO4)}

Moccasio Leather & Chamois Leather: Fish Oil is used.

Defects of Leather:

1. Scratches-: Scratches occurs when the animal rubs against barbed wires or rough objects.
A scar is left in the skin.
2. Brand marks in the butt-: It is done for the identification of animal. Cow and calves are
branded with a red hot iron for identification purposes. These scars remain in leather.
Mainly found on the butt and shoulder of an animal.
3. Growth marks in the neck-: Growth marks may occur in the shoulder and neck areas at
right angles to the backbone line. They are caused by the wrinkles in the skin being
flattened out.
4. Vein marks-: After the skins have been tanned, veins may be visible through the surface
finish of smooth leather.
5. Holes/ Flay cuts -: These defects happen due to the error of the butcher while flaying.
Deeper flay cuts become further deeper after flaying.
6. Loose flank-: (Poor quality hide or poorly tanned) Looseness in the flank area due to
poor quality of raw hide or due to improper tanning i.e., process defects.
7. Stain marks on the flesh side-: It appears during finishing process. It happens due to
uneven degreasing and fat liquoring.
8. Course finish-: Rough skin for very old animals.
9. Tick marks-: The tick burrows its head into the skin of the animal to suck the blood and
it leaves a hole which produces a scar.
10. Warble holes-: The warble fly lays its eggs in the hair above the feet of animals.
Eventually the grub from the egg emerges from a hole in the skin of animal back through
which it has burrowed (from the inside). A hole is left in the skin, which later heals over
leaving a scar.

TYPES OF LEATHER: In general, leather is sold in three forms:

a. Full-Grain leather or Top-Grain: is referring to the upper section of a hide that

contains the epidermis or skin layer. It refers to hides that have not been sanded, buffed
or snuffed (otherwise known as Corrected) in order to remove imperfections on the
surface of the hide. Only the hair has been removed from the epidermis. The grain
remains in its natural state which will allow the best fiber strength, resulting in greater
durability. The finest leather furniture and footwear are made from Full-Grain leather.
For these reasons only the best raw hide are used in order to create Full-Grain or Top
Grain leather.
b. Corrected-Grain leather: is any Top-Grain leather that has had its surfaces sanded,
buffed or snuffed in order to remove any imperfection on the surface due to insect bites,
healed scars or brands. Top-Grain leather is often wrongly referred to as Corrected-
Grain. Although Corrected-Grain leather is made from Top-Grain, but as soon as the
surface is corrected in any way, the leather is no longer referred to as Top-Grain leather.
The hides used to create corrected leather are hides of inferior quality. The imperfections
are corrected and an artificial grain is applied.
c. Split leather: is leather that is created from the fibrous part of the hide left once the
Top-Grain of the raw hide has been separated from the hide. It is mostly done in thick
skins/ hides. Split leather has an artificial layer applied to the surface of the split and is
embossed with a leather grain.

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