THE NATURE OF CHROME LEATHERS 137 



the hide fibres isolated during tannage. The inevitable 

 effect of this is that the leather has not the same solidity 

 and firmness, and needs filling out with other materials. 

 A commercial consequence is also that it is impossible to 

 obtain the same yield of leather from any given quantity 

 of raw material. In trade parlance chrome tannage does not 

 give good " weight." Another consequence is that (even 

 when well filled with greases in finishing) chrome leather 

 tends to be " woolley " on the flesh side or at cut edges. 



On the other hand, chrome tanning has very many 

 advantages over the older process. The most obvious of 

 these is the great saving in time. Many chrome tannages 

 involve only a day or two, and none more than a week or 

 two. A chrome leather factory therefore needs less capital 

 on account of the quicker turnover. If, moreover, the 

 market be unfavourable, a chrome tanner can stop or 

 reduce his output in a very short time, whereas a vegetable 

 tanner is committed to many weeks' supply of the goods 

 he is manufacturing. Another notable advantage of chrome 

 leather is its durability. In the finishing processes more 

 grease is usually employed than in vegetable tannage, and 

 this has a preservative effect upon leathers which often 

 get wet. Chrome sole leather and hydraulic leathers are 

 cases in point. Chrome leather will also stand changes 

 of temperature and friction much better than vegetable 

 tannages. The light chrome tannage results, further, in 

 yielding a leather which has great tensile strength, and it 

 is not surprising to find that chrome harness and chrome 

 picking bands are highly thought of. The empty nature 

 of the tannage necessitates the use of stuffing greases, but 

 such large proportions of these may be used that chrome 

 tannage becomes obviously suitable if one wishes to pro- 

 duce a waterproof leather. Hence the popularity of chrome 

 tannage for waterproof soling and hydraulic leathers. 



The advantages of the chrome process are very real, 

 and very obviously such as will appeal to manufacturers. 

 Chrome leathers have now been for some time in the fore- 

 front as far as boot-uppers are concerned, especially for 



