KCl-assisted Enzyme in Unhairing and Collagen Fibre Bundle Opening for Cleaner Leather Making

In the traditional beamhouse, many chemical reagents such as sodium sulfide and calcium hydroxide are used, causing plenty of wastewater with sulfide and lime. In the present paper, KCl is used to assist enzymes for unhairing and collagen fibre bundle opening, in order to replace the conventional high pollution chemicals. The influences of KCl/dispase on unhairing and KCl/DMC on the collagen fibre bundle opening were investigated. The results showed that the KCl-assisted dispase could shorten the unhairing period with good hair root removal, compared to that of both conventional and pure dispase unhairing. The auxiliary use of KCl makes it possible to avoid pore enlargement and loose grain. KCl-assisted DMC opens the collagen fibre bundles better than the conventional unhairing resulting in a better tannage with increased softness and physical strength. The present paper shows that a cleaner and more eco-benign beamhouse is an alternative to the traditional process with sodium sulfide and lime. Note: DMC refers to Erhavit DMC enzyme.