Fresh hides thru wetblue

There is no question that the quality of finished leather begins with the quality

of the raw hide used, and the Hulshof company policy is to use only West European first choice bull hides with an average of almost 6 sq. m. / 62 sq. ft. The cattle receive meticulous veterinary care during their lifetime. The Hulshof hides are never treated with highly damaging salt, as is common in many tanneries around the world. Eliminating the salting process means the leather is better and softer with much less damage to the environment.

Liming
The objective of soaking is to return the hide to its’ original condition ready for further processing. Subsequently the hair is removed during liming. Originally lime alone was used but the process is speeded up by the addition of sodium sulphide. Liming also performs a secondary function of opening -up the fiber structure and partially digesting some protein matter which

cannot be tanned but can give rise to thin, hard 'tinny' leather if not removed.

Hides are fleshed to remove any excess flesh that was not removed at the meat packing plant. Fleshing also allows the tanning material to penetrate the hide more efficiently. After fleshing the hides are split through their thickness creating a top (top grain) and a bottom (split) piece. The split will now be sent to our sister company, H.P.T. Corporation, for conversion into a food additive.

Tanning
The reliming opens-up those fibers that have been exposed by the fleshing operation. After this, a deliming process is used to reduce the alkalinity to bring the hides into a suitable condition for the next stages of processing

known in the industry as bating, pickling and tanning.

At this point, the hides are first treated with an enzyme that digests unwanted protein fibers (bating) and then tumbled in a strong acid and salt solution (pickling). Finally our hides have reached a condition where the actual tanning material can be applied. The first tannages were based on vegetable extracts made by boiling the leaves and barks of various trees. In the early part of the 20th century, a new process was perfected. The most commonly used tannage used today is one that uses a chemical salt of the element, Chromium.

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