Abstract

Nowadays, the production of shoes having certain functional-consumer qualities requires materials, which meet all final product requirements, are environmentally safe and do not overcomplicate the production cycle. In this paper the influence of conditions of using a polymeric material based on maleic acid prior to dyeing the bovine shoe upper leather was studied. According to the results of electron microscopic examination, as well as evaluation of the physico-mechanical and thermophysical properties of the leather it was revealed that the use of polymeric material contributes to the formation of structure and such important indices of the derma as tensile strength, grain strength, extension, water vapour permeability, apparent density, porosity, heat resistance and thermal absorptivity. On the basis of a generalised objective function, optimal processing variants were defined. Recommendations of leather production parameters taking into account the season of shoe exploitation (autumn/winter, spring/summer) have been made.