Chrome-tanned leather is the industry’s ‘stainless steel’
18/12/2015
In his capacity as chair of the research commission of the International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies (IULTCS), Dr Tegtmeyer has contributed two essays, Essays Eight and Nine, explaining why the use of chrome in leather production is safe for the Nothing To Hide series. Nothing To Hide is an ongoing collection of detailed essays presenting scientific and other fact-based arguments in defence of leather published by World Leather on a dedicated website and available completely free of charge on an open source platform for the entire leather industry to use.
In comments he made at the fourth ‘Future of European Leather’ conference in Glasgow on December 10, Dr Tegtmeyer acknowledged that extensive effort is still required to assuage the concerns among some brands and consumers that it’s best to avoid chrome-tanned leather. “Chrome-tanned leather has properties you cannot have with any other tanning agent,” Dr Tegtmeyer told the audience. “You can have chrome-free leather, but it will have different properties. If you add chrome to iron you get stainless steel. You can add other things to iron to make other types of steel, but it’s not stainless steel, and chrome-tanned leather is the stainless steel of the leather industry.”
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