Left to Right: Salted Hide, Wet Blue, LiteHide™ , Crust (unfinished Leather)
Litehide™ is a salt-free neutrally preserved skin which is shipped in a dehydrated state.
Salt-free = No salt or water salinity issues from tannery waste
Preserved = Will not putrefy leading to a long shelf life
Dehydrated = Light weight, clean and easy to handle for transport and storage
De-haired and fleshed = Grain visible for inspection and ready for tanning
Neutral cure = Will accept any tanning agent giving tanners flexibility
No wastage = Only ship usable material
The majority of hides and skins transported around the world to tanneries are either salted or wet blue.
Salted hides are either brined or dry salted, both use salt to prevent putrefaction during transport. Brined hides are submerged in a strong salt solution then packed as a wet product. Dry salted hides can have up to 10 kg of raw salt sandwiched between its folds for shipping.
Wet blue is a chrome tanned hide which requires re-tanning to achieve colour and characteristics needed for finished leather products.
Disadvantages with salted transport:-
– Salt only delays decomposition
– Large amount of contaminated salt to dispose of after transport
– High costs associated with salt, transport and treatment
Disadvantages with Wetblue:-
– Limited shelf-life, needs to be kept humidity and temperature controlled
– Is already a chrome tanned product and will not accept other tannages
– Trimmings can not be processed as tallow or collagen
Comparison of transporting Litehide™ with wet blue and salted hides
For more information, please visit Litehide.com