Drawn or shrunken grain and excessive wrinkles degrade the quality of the leather. TFL has shown how inadequate soaking can be the cause and how the appropriate enzyme treatment resolves the problem. Excessive draw when processing wet salted material can still be caused by inadequate soaking.
Non-structured proteins in the skin need to be removed if liming is to be efficient and soft mellow leathers are to be produced. These non-structured proteins are partly broken down by salting but the process still needs to be accelerated. Soaking with specially selected enzyme preparations such as PELLVIT grades and compatible surfactants such as BORRON grades will rapidly soak back salted goods.
Important: Salted stock may be soaked for short periods without the need for biocide but if there is ANY DOUBT about the condition of preservation then a suitable biocide such as ARACIT must be used.
Good Practice: Soak well using a biocide together with suitable surfactants and enzyme soaking agents.</strong>