How Surfactants Work in the Leather Industry.

As people's lives improve, there are increasing demands on leather products for properties such as lightness, thinness, softness, water and stain resistance, however these demands must be achieved using leather chemicals. Many leather chemicals are themselves surfactants, and this article will be relevant to the application of surfactants in leather.

Application of surfactants in various stages of leather production

▲Water immersion additives

Surfactants used in water immersion are mostly anionic and non-ionic, and cationic surfactants are also used in the water immersion process, mainly for their bactericidal and antiseptic functions. The surfactants can be used in each dip, and the general dosage is 0.3% to 1.0% of the original skin weight.

▲Degreasing agent

The main component of the degreasing agent for leather is surfactant, mostly anionic and non-ionic surfactants used in combination. As degreasing is required in different processes, it is usually required that the degreasing agent should have a certain acid and alkali resistance.

▲Leather dyeing auxiliaries

Leather dyeing auxiliaries include levelling agents, dyeing promoters, colour fixing agents, etc. Most of these dyeing auxiliaries are surfactants. The surfactants in natural colour can make the dye molecules react with the collagen fibres, which can make the dyeing more even and firm. As leather is mainly dyed with acid and direct dyes, levelling agents are generally non-ionic and anionic surfactants, while fixing agents are often cationic surface colouring agents, which are the opposite of levelling agents, as they mainly fix the colour by precipitating with anionic dyes.

▲Greasing auxiliaries

The amount of surfactants used in the greasing stage is the largest and most varied, and the surfactant content in greasing agents can reach 50%.

Trends in surfactants for leather

The development of surfactants for leather should be suitable for environmental requirements, can improve the absorption rate of other chemical materials and reduce leather pollution; can give leather special properties, constantly improve leather production processes, improve product quality and increase economic benefits. In the production of leather industry, surfactants will increasingly play an important role.

SANCOLO is a leading surfactant manufacturer in China, producing CDBS (calcium dodecyl benzene sulfonate), anhydrous calcium salts, non-ionic surfactants, pesticide emulsifiers, and macromonomer polycarboxylic acid cement water reducing agents. These products are used as surfactants (surface active agents) for applications in personal care products, detergents, fabric softeners, emulsion polymerisation, leather and textile processing. View all products.