Articles - Leather Technology Magazine Nº75
Past, present and future of water resistant leather
Mr. Edward Bohres1; Peter Danisch2; Andreas Seitz3
1- BASF SE, edward.bohres@basf.com
2- BASF SE, peter.danisch@basf.com
3- BASF SE, andreas.seitz@basf.com
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Past, present and future of water resistant
leather
Work presented at the XVII Latin American Congress, Rio,
Brasil, 2008
ABSTRACT
The increasing demand of high quality water resistant
leather has led to the development of new waterproofing,
high performance products.
In the past, water resistant leather was generally produced
with hydrophobic substances, mostly vegetable fats or oils
and wax. The resulting leather was water resistant but,
unfortunately, it was also less permeable to water vapor.
The leather goods obtained were not very comfortable.
The water resistant leather qualities could be improved
by means of emulsion products in the seventies. The use of
new formulas including Silicone Oils led to considerable
increase in water vapor permeability. The high oils and
paraffin content resulted in some cases in inhomogeneous
leather (such as uniformity of dye, adhesion of the finishing,
among others.)
These disadvantages could be improved by using polymers,
instead of oils or paraffin. This first generation of polymer
waterproofing products was relatively unstable in the
presence of a very high concentration of electrolytes.
It is possible, with the development of new polymers, to
formulate more stable waterproofings without sacrificing
the water resistant leather’s high technical demands
(Maeser-, Bally-test, water permeability, among others.)
These crust leathers show excellent uniformity.
Together with the anchorage, it is possible to remarkably
facilitate the finishing process.
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