Applicability of lubricating acrilic syntans in vegetable tanned saddlery leathers [Bi·tki·sel tabaklanmiş saraci·yeli·k deri·lerde yaglayici poli·merleri·n kullanilabi·li·rli·gi·]

The demand on the production of leathers with natural look and touch has shown an increase in recent years. Therefore, the usage of vegetable tannins in leather production has also increased accordingly. However, the leathers tanned or heavily retanned with vegetable tannins show high hydrophilic character. Besides, a light finishing is usually preferred to be applied on leathers in order to obtain the natural look and touch which hinders the resistance of leathers to external factors (water, humidity, light etc.). Lubricating acrylic syntans are well-known auxiliaries in leather industry with their fatliquoring and filling effect in retannage as well as their water-repellent properties. In this research, different percentages of a lubricating acrylic polymer was used in retanning process of vegetable tanned leathers and its effect on water absorption and vapour permeability properties of the leathers were investigated. The results showed that the water absorption properties of the leathers processed with lubricating acrylic syntans were lower than the blank samples. The increase in syntan quantities resulted in decreased water absorption values of the leathers. The water vapour permeability of the samples was also found to be increased with the offer of lubricating acrylic syntans.