Abstract

Leather goods are associated with fashion trends and sophistication in consumer products. In leather processing, the finishing phase consists of a series of operations and treatments, essentially on the surface, conferring its final characteristics: resistances and beauty. In this final stage of leather treatment are applied, among other products, resins, generally polyurethanes or polyacrylates and sometimes other polymers, which form protective coating films over the leather surface. In this work the films are prepared in Petri dishes and are tested in pure form, not applied over a leather surface. In this context, this paper evaluates films prepared with commercial polymeric resins polyurethanes and polyacrylates measuring the properties tensile strength resistance, elongation at break and toughness, the influence of the addition of pigments and its stability to water or organic solvent. The addition of pigments decreased the mechanical resistance for acrylic and polyurethane resins. The stability of the films with respect to water and solvents has shown that water soluble solvent components increased by the presence of pigment and the water absorption is higher and the solvent is lower in pigmented films to acrylates and polyurethanes.