Abstract

In its different modalities, the technology of hair saving unhairing is beginning to be applied by cowhide tanneries in several countries, replacing the traditional hair burning unhairing. The arguments ruling this technological change are: a decrease in the contami nation of residual water in the wet sector and the recovery of partially degraded hair—a residue with potential industrial applications1’2—aswell as obtaining a pelt that is suitable for the production of different types of leather. The “core” of any hair-saving unhairing process is the well known “immunization phenomenon”.