Manufacture of High-Performance Sheep Upper Leather From Low Quality Sheep Skins in Selection Through Process Upgradation and Optimization
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Date
2018-06-27
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
The quality of a raw material for any manufacturing industry or firm is one of the decisive factors
controlling its productivity and profitability. Leather processing industries are no exceptions to
this fact. The decline of quality raw material supply for the leather processing industries is a great
challenge to be competent and survive in the industry these days. The quality of the raw material
is largely affected by different factors. The problems leading to lower selection of raw skins or
semi-processed skins in industry are categorized as ante-mortem and post-mortem defects.
Especially the ante-mortem defect caused by ecto-parasite attack on the skins surface is one of the
major problems for downgraded selection of sheep and goat skins. In this research work, an
attempt has been made to upgrade poor and reject wet blue leathers due to mange disease damage
or “Ekeke” on sheep skin. The problem of lower quality selection of skins could be improved and
upgraded into better quality shoe upper leather by working on suitable leather processing
techniques for covering the defects of mange damaged skins in wet-finishing and finishing by
upgradation and optimization. In wet- finishing process, filler waxes and pigments combination
were employed for upgradation. This has resulted in improved coverage of defects on dyed crust
leathers. Physical strength tests and organoleptic property assessments performed on the treated
leathers are found to be good. The optimized process of dyed crust leather is taken further for
finishing, where five finishing methods were chosen for upgrading the uncovered defects in wetfinishing.
Waxy, metallic, corrected grain and cationic finishing were employed against the
conventional resin finishing. With cationic finishing, an improved and upgraded leather was
obtained with better natural look or appearance of grain, good covering and comparable physical
and organoleptic properties and better grade.
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Keywords
Sheep Skin, Sheep Upper Leather, lower Quality