Abstract

Formaldehyde is an effective preservative for hides and skins and used in small quantities presents little effluent problems compared to current salting techniques, where salt in tannery effluents constitute a major problem. These trials show it is possible to preserve raw hides by drumming in as little as 0.25% formalin (40% active) with no float, and still unhair the hides in the tannery by conventional methods, using sodium sulphide, and produce a satisfactory shoe upper leather.