Fabrication |
Raw Material |
The raw material for making leather is animal hide, which is a by-product of meat production.
A hide merchant buys the hides from a slaughterhouse, grades them according to weight, type, and sex, and then trims and preserves them.
Immediately after slaughtering, bacteria begin to decompose the animal hide. As this natural process damages the surface of the hide, it must be prevented.
In Central Europe, this decomposing process is slowed through refrigeration.
Refrigeration is better for the environment than the traditional method of salting hides because it reduces the amount of chloride in our rivers and streams.
The Heinen tannery uses only refrigerated hides!
Careful selection of the raw animal hide is fundamental for the production of high-quality leather because the better the quality of the raw material, the better the quality of the leather that is produced from it.
Therefore, the tanner obtains graded, sorted, and pre-trimmed raw material and, in doing so, gets a leather quality that is as standardized as possible.
To ensure a high-quality product, the Heinen tannery buys only central European hides of male animals in a weight class of 30 to 50 kilograms.
Especially in the belly region, the hide is thicker and fuller and has fewer blood vessels on the surface.
