skin:
NOTE: I am going to break down the uses of this part into three: A. the skin alone (referred to as leather), B. the skin and hair (referred to as hair-on) and C. the hair alone. The raw materials (particularly in cattle) are usually a byproduct of the meat manufacturing industry. source: http://www.braunexp.com/about.html accessed February 15th 2013, 2.12pm
A1. clothing as material usually leather but also as suede, bycast leather and rawhide(and others). For the hide to be made into leather it must undergo intensive processing involving the three sets of processes: First, preparatory involving soaking, dehairing, fleshing, splitting, degreasing, liming and a number of other practices. During this set, particularly the spliting phase, sections of the hides will be separated for use as rawhide and suede. Secondly, following this the hide will be treated (tanned). there are a number of different types of tanning. All are designed to stabilise the material. As with human skin, it is subject to deterioration and rotting. If not tanned it will break down easily and become dry and brittle and will shrink and deform when wet. Tanning with vegetable tannins was the original process, but is not considered suitable for longevity and suppleness in garments. Most tanning processes utilise noxious and/or poisonous chemicals including chromium, aldehyde and formaldehyde, polymers and resins(generally derived from fossil fuels) and aluminium. The final set of treatments, referred to as crusting thicken, embellish, finish, dye and polish the leather according to the look intended. source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leather accessed February 15th 2013, 3.04pm
A2. Upholstery and rugs(for furniture, wall and floor linings, transport interiors and others) as A1 above. Generally using the full grain- which employs the full thickness of the skin. Aniline (accessed February 15th 2013, 3.30pm) leather is generally considered as “premium” quality. Cheaper products including bycast (accessed February 15th 2013, 2.15pm) and bonded (accessed February 15th 2013, 3.46pm) leather are also widely used for economy products.
A3. Personal accessories including wallets, handbags, bags, gloves(usually only workman’s (accessed February 15th 2013, 4.34pm)gloves), belts and shoes.as A1 above. All generally employ full grain (accessed February 15th 2013, 3.56pm) leather. However a number of specialised variants are used including calfslink (according to wikipedia, although i have only found manufacturers using slink from lamb (accessed February 15th 2013, 4.17pm). As an aside slink lamb (accessed February 15th 2013, 4.00pm).is leather from a stillborn or unborn lamb(we can imagine that this may not just be a byproduct of natural processes (accessed February 15th 2013, 4.26pm); where there is a demand and money to be made…, nubuck (accessed February 15th 2013, 4.37pm), nappa (accessed February 15th 2013, 4.44pm)leather (again, please note nappa leather usually uses lamb skin) and buckskin (accessed February 15th 2013, 4.44pm). I have to take the time to mention http://www.happycow.com.au/. Do NOT mistake this appallingly named company for http://www.happycow.net/, the appropriately named worldwide online restaurant and food shop site. Please click here for my correspondence with this company.
A4. Horse tack, including saddles, bridles and reigns. source: http://www.antares-sellier.com/selle/saddles.html accessed february 15th 2013 5.00pm.Interestingly, even what is regarded as one of the premiere saddle constructors in the world does not detail its range and type of leather, just the finishes.
A5. Sporting equipment, particularly balls.(including afl, basketball, american football, baseball, volleyball, soccer, rugby, cricket, softball (accessed 15th February 2013 between 10.00pm and 11.15pm), gloves and protective wear (including baseball, softball, golf, archery, boxing, (accessed 15th february 2013 between 10.00pm and 11.35pm)
A6. Musical Instruments particularly using rawhide as drum covers. source: http://www.leatherunltd.com/leather/rawhide/rawhide.html accessed february 15th 2013 11.40pm
A7. Book binding utilising rawhide and other skin variants processed into parchment, vellum and binding and cover leather. source: http://papyri.tripod.com/vellum/vellum.html accessed february 15th 2013 11.46pm also see cow brains.
A8. Art supplies, as raw products used in jewellery, general crafts, sculpture, painting, stamping and embossing. source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leather_crafting accessed february 15th 2013 11.50pm
A9. Animal consumption as dog food using rawhide in chewing products. source: http://www.the-puppy-dog-place.com/rawhide-dog-chews.html accessed February 15th 2013 11.59pm
A10. Soap manufacture as stearic acid* utilising the fats removed during fleshing as part of the excess flesh and fat layer on the rear of the skin. source: http://nzic.org.nz/ChemProcesses/animal/5C.pdf accessed february 16th 2013 12.27am
A11.*Shampoo manufacture as glycol distearate which is a chemical compound utilizing stearic acid (see A10 above). It is used, it appears, to provide a pearlescent appearance to the product. It can be derived from plant sources, as is every other component in most shampoos. source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shampoo accessed 21st february 2013 4.30pm
A12.*Shaving soap manufacture as tallow(rendered fat). Still in use today particularly by traditionalists believing it provides a better soap. source: http://sharpologist.com/2012/05/7-common-tallow-soap-myths.html accessed february 21st 2013 5.16pm
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