· Role of leather industry in relation to farming, abattoirs and manufactures

· Tannery processing options

· Factors that impact on the global leather industry

· Difference between hide and skin

· Basic skin structure

· Structure of cattle hide

· Structure of calf skins

· Structure of goat skins

· Structure of sheepskins (Marino versus sheep hair)

· Structure of others types of skins

· Defects that arise due to animal breed, age, diet

· Defects that arise on the living animal

· Defects that arise during slaughtering and skin removal

· Defects that arise due to poor preservation of hides and skins

· Defects that arise in the tannery during processing

· Stages in putrefaction of hides and skins

· Bacterial growth conditions

· Dehydration / Curing

· Sun drying

· Shade drying

· Wet salting / Dry salting

· Halophytic bacteria

· Brining

· Short term preservation

· Antiseptics

· Refrigeration

· Pickling

· Reasons for soaking

· Possible problems that occur during soaking

· How to correct or prevent soaking problems

· Differences between soaking of hides and sheepskins

· Soaking Processes

· Biocides / surfactants / soaking enzymes

· Dirt soak / main soak

· Reasons for liming / dehairing

· Effect of liming on skin and skin components

· Hair burn dehairing

· Hair save dehairing

· Liming / unhairing processes for hides and skins

· Liming / dehairing chemicals

· Possible problems that occur during liming / dehairing

· How to correct or prevent liming / dehairing problems

· Painting / Sweating of sheepskins

· Fleshing and splitting

· Reasons for lime splitting

· Deliming

· Phenolphthalein indicator

· Deliming processes

· Deliming chemicals

· Ammonium buffers

· Sodium metabisulphite and prevention of hydrogen sulphide gas

· How to correct or prevent deliming problems

· Bating

· Enzymes

· Optimal conditions for enzymes

· Bating processes

· Effect of enzymes on skin components

· Impact of overbating

· Degreasing

· Solvents

· Surfactants

· Bleaching

· Bleaching chemicals

· Safety when using bleaching chemicals

· Pickling

· Astringency

· Masking chemicals

· Baume

· Acid swelling and protonation of collagen

· Iso-electric point

· Pickling processes

· Safety when using acids

· How to correct or prevent pickling problems

· Low salt pickling systems

· Tanning

· Tanning chemicals

· Aldehidic tanning

· Aluminum tanning

· Oxazolydine tanning

· Vegetable tanning

· Chrome tanning

· Properties imparted by different tanning chemicals

· Factors influencing vegetable tanning penetration

· Vegetable tanning process

· How to correct or prevent vegetable tanning problems

· Effect of iron and other oxidizing agent on vegetable tanning

· Factors influencing chromium penetration

· Chrome tanning processes

· How to correct or prevent tanning problems

· Basification

· Basification chemicals

· Basification processes

· Factors influencing chromium fixation to collagen

· Basicity

· Fungi

· Fungicide

· Chrome recycling and recovery

· Horsing up / Ageing

· Sammying

· Sorting / Grading

· PH at different process stages and how to correct problems

· Boil test

· Calamari test

· Shrinkage temperature

· Baume at different process stages and how to correct problems

· Float temperature at different process stages

· Chromium concentration

· Miscellaneous tests / observations

· Splitting and shaving

· Wetting back and washing

· Re-chroming

· Neutralization

· Re-tanning

· Dyeing

· Fat-liquoring

· Fixation

· Setting out and drying

· Conditioning

· Staking

· Milling

· Buffing

· Impregnation

· Leather finishing

· Measuring

· Leather testing

· Reasons for conditioning

· Moisture contents for conditioning

· Staking

· Milling

· Milling times

· Buffing

· Corrected grain leather

· Snuffing

· Grit sizes of different buffing papers

· Impregnation

· Improvement of loose grain

· Acrylic resins for impregnation

· Application rates for impregnation mixtures

· How to correct or prevent impregnation problems

· Why leather is finished

· Properties of a leather finish

· Finish coats applied to the leather surface

· Properties of the different finish coats

· Diluents

· Solvent vs. water based products

· Resins

· Properties of acrylic, polyurethane and butadiene resins

· Lacquers

· Properties of different lacquers

· Pigments

· Dyestuffs

· Difference between pigments and dyestuffs in terms of capacity

· Modifiers

· Cross linkers

· Viscosity

· How to measure viscosity of mixtures

· Viscosity of different finishes

· Factors that impact on the method of application

· Padding

· Brushing

· Swabbing

· Curtain coating

· Foiling / Laminating

· Spraying

· Roller coating

· Advantages and disadvantages of the different application methods

· How to correct and prevent finishing problems

· Plating

· Embossing

· Ironing

· Glazing

· Polishing

· Boarding

· Milling

· Brush off

· Buffing

· How to correct and prevent mechanical operation problems

· Ratio of film forming to non-film forming products

· Finishing of corrected grain shoe upper leather

· Finishing of automotive upholstery leather

· Finishing of ostrich leather

· Finishing of sheep nappa leather

· Finishing processes

· Standard leather sampling

· Sample conditioning

· Conditioning times, temperatures and humidity

· Common tests carried out on finished leather

· Interpretation of test results

· Possible reasons for finishes failing the tests

· Effluent treatment

· Industrial Waste Water Specifications

· Chrome Recovery or Recycling

· Environmental regulations