SHEEPSKINS 117 



For paste grains they are soaked and " cleared " for dyeing 

 by immersion in very weak sulphuric acid, excess of which 

 is carefully washed out with water. Paddle-dyeing follows, 

 and is preferred to drum dyeing as the skins are so liable 

 to tear. After being struck out they are " pasted," by 

 spreading on to the flesh a glue jelly, using first the hand, 

 then a stiff brush and finally a cloth. The goods are then 

 dried out. They are then seasoned, partly dried and 

 printed cross-grain. They are next grained two ways 

 lightly ; shank to shank, and across, lightly tooth-rolled 

 and glazed. They are regrained two ways as before, dried 

 out, and finally softened with a graining board. They are 

 sometimes sized on the grain to fix the pattern and give a 

 gloss. For hat leathers the skins are first soaked, sumached 

 and struck out. If for white or cream finishes they are now 

 lead-bleached. This consists of pigment dyeing with lead 

 sulphate. They are immersed alternately in lead acetate 

 and in sulphuric acid solutions until precipitation is sufficient. 

 They are then dyed to shade. If for browns it is common to 

 mordant with titanium and use basic dyestuffs, paddling 

 afterwards in sumach to fix the dye. After dyeing the 

 goods are struck out again, starched, and dried out on 

 boards. They are again starched and rolled to give the 

 plain finish. 



Roans are not split. They are degreased, puered, 

 scudded and drenched overnight at 95 F. They are tanned 

 with sumach usually in pits, and take rather longer than 

 usual to tan. They are finished in much the same style as 

 goatskins for morocco leather, but as the sheepskin has 

 little natural grain it needs embossing or printing according 

 to the type required. If for " hard grains," the skins are 

 soaked, sumached, seasoned, dried, glazed and damped 

 back for printing. This is done by the " hard grain " roller, 

 and the goods are dried out to fix the pattern. They are 

 damped back, sammed, and grained in four directions 

 (cp. Section II., p. 104), dried out and boarded to soften. If 

 for straight grains they are printed with a straight-grain 

 roller, or grained neck to butt. After tooth rolling they are 



