Abstract

Studies on the preservation of skins with antiseptics alone have been made for 20 days’ storage at 25°C. These salt-free short-term preservation methods are important to the hide, skin, fellmongering and leather industry in combating salt effluent, particularly in inland areas. Physical tests on the garment leather produced from these antiseptic treated skins shows that this method is capable of preserving skins for 20 days at 25°C, but visual assessment of leather and grain quality revealed that the antiseptic treated skins yielded leather which was in general of slightly inferior quality and with more grain blemishes. The reasons for this are under investigation. The results also show that sodium chlorite in the antiseptic mixture gives an inferior product. Nevertheless, the results are encouraging for the development of a practical and economic method for the short-term preservation of hides and skins without salt.