The leather manufacturing process is divided into 3 fundamental sub-processes: preparatory stages, tanning and crusting. All true leathers will undergo these sub-processes.
The preparatory stages are when the hide/skin is prepared for tanning. Preparatory stages may include: preservation, soaking, liming, unhairing, fleshing, splitting, reliming, deliming, bating, degreasing, frizing, bleaching, pickling and depickling.
Tanning is the process converts the protein of the raw hide or skin into a stable material which will not putrefy and is suitable for a wide variety of end applications. The most commonly used tanning material is chromium, which leaves the leather once tanned a pale blue colour (due to the chromium), this product is commonly called “wet blue”.
Crusting is when the hide/skin is thinned, retanned and lubricated. Often a coloring operation is included in the crusting sub-process. The chemicals added during crusting have to be fixed in place. The culmination of the crusting sub-process is the drying and softening operations. Crusting may include the following operations: wetting back, sammying, splitting, shaving, rechroming, neutralisation, retanning, dyeing, fatliquoring, filling, stuffing, stripping, whitening, fixation, setting, drying, conditioning, milling, staking and buffing.
For some leathers a surface coating is applied. Tanners refer to this as finishing. Finishing operations may include: oiling, brushing, padding, impregnation, buffing, spraying, roller coating, curtain coating, polishing, plating, embossing, ironing, ironing/combing(for hair-on) and glazing.
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