TFL Bio Initiatives

TFL are dedicated to drive the use of renewable raw materials in products to the next level.

To minimize the use of fossil fuel materials in products and the carbon footprint of leather, it is vital to support customers not only with the right products to make beautiful leather but to also support their efforts for more sustainable solutions. TFL have gathered all products with a renewable content of 50% or higher under one roof, with the name “Pure”.

The latest “Pure” products with high amounts of renewable raw materials for leather finishing are as follows:

RODA® Pure Feel F 730 is a product for garment, shoe upper, upholstery and leather goods, which is used as an additive in aqueous topcoats and nitrocellulose emulsion lacquers. RODA® Pure Feel F 730 imparts a soft and waxy feel to the leather. The product comes with a 65% renewable content.

Another candidate is RODA® Pure Base WH 0303 which is a ready-to-use base coat compound for typical box type articles like brush-off and patent leather. This product provides very good coverage and flexes with a 50% bio content.

RODA® Pure Finish 5090 is a ready-to-use NMP-free and NEP-free topcoat with 61% bio content. The product is especially designed for shiny and very fashionable leather articles, forming a soft and glossy film with very good physical properties.

Now also available with a renewable content of 51% is RODA® Pure Finish 6271-B, the bio version of our well-known dull topcoat compound for shoe upper nappa, upholstery and garment leather with good physical and mechanical properties, a pleasant, warm and silky touch and a very low polishing effect.

AQUADERM® Pure Finish 1813 is a PUD topcoat binder which forms a glossy, very dry and medium-soft film to obtain excellent physical properties with dry and wet rub fastness. The product, with its 53% bio content, is commonly used as a gloss component for upholstery and shoe upper articles.

With 43% renewable content RODA® Finish 5180/E Dull does not quite qualify to carry the name “PURE” but the product is still a valuable bio contributor in our range. This ready-to-use topcoat compound is suitable for a wide range of full grain or buffed upholstery articles. Leather made with RODA® Finish 5180/E Dull are dull, can be milled and come with excellent heat and light fastness properties.

In the wet end TFL have already launched various unique biobased products (renewable content in brackets) including the film forming polymer MAGNOPAL® Pure A (93%), the amphoteric retanning agent MAGNOPAL® Pure H Liq (97%), the filler MAGNOPAL® Pure M (100%) and the genuine resin RETINGAN® Pure RS (70%) together with renewable faliquors, for example, CORIPOL® Pure LC (79%).

TFL is now proud to announce the very latest launches, two potential game changers, namely: TANIGAN® Pure T-A (75%), a patented non-food grade bio-based extract with true tanning power and completely free of bisphenols. TANIGAN® Pure T-A can be used as a genuine replacement tanning and retanning agent for all types of leathers, imparting outstanding tightness combined with inner mellowness. TANIGAN® Pure T-A has a bright, even leather colour and superior light fastness and heat resistance compared to many commonly available vegetable tannins.

The second new product is MAGNOPAL® Pure B (71%), a completely new generation of bio-based polymers that can fully replace traditional fossil fuel-based acrylics. As you would expect from a traditional polymer product, it gives the leather a fine and smooth grain and a light, even colour.

Do not think that being “bio-based” means we have compromised on performance, on the contrary, MAGNOPAL® Pure B has excellent lightfastness and heat resistance. MAGNOPAL® Pure B is used for all types of leather and imparts excellent tightness combined with exceptional fullness and softness. MAGNOPAL® Pure B produces leather of low density, which makes it particularly suitable for lightweight articles. In addition, MAGNOPAL® Pure B has an extremely high exhaustion rate resulting in low BOD / COD values of the wastewater.

Both products contain impressively high amounts of bio-based materials which improve the bio-content of the wet end formulation and make the resulting leather more sustainable. TANIGAN® Pure T-A and MAGNOPAL® Pure B can be combined with other products from the "Pure Range" to create leathers with a low environmental impact.