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Research Project: Improving the Quality of Animal Hides, Reducing Environmental Impacts of Hide Production, and Developing Value-Added Products from Wool

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Title: Leather and textile uses of fats and oils

Author
item Liu, Cheng Kung
item Brown, Eleanor - Ellie
item KRONICK, PAUL - Retired ARS Employee
item KAMATH, Y.K. - Institute Of Textile Technology
item Erhan, Sevim

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/29/2019
Publication Date: 4/1/2020
Citation: Liu, C., Brown, E.M., Kronick, P., Kamath, Y., Erhan, S.Z. 2020. Leather and textile uses of fats and oils. In: Fereidon Shahidi, editor. Bailey's Industrial Oil and Fat Products. 7th edition. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons. 6, p. 305. https://doi.org/10.1002/047167849X.bio040.pub2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/047167849X.bio040.pub2

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: This report is a review of recent research progress and newly developed technology for the utilization of fats and oils in leather and textiles. Fatliquors, oils applied as aqueous emulsions to leather while it is still wet from tanning, are available as a variety of ionic and anionic forms. Fatliquors soften leather by preventing the formation of adhesions between fibers during drying. Recent research on the effects of fatliquors on the fibrous structure and resultant physical properties of leather has concluded that the concentration of fatliquor applied was more important to the outcome than the type of fatliquor. In addition, the sound suppressing effect of fat in leather under test conditions support acoustic emission testing as a way to monitor the degree of lubrication, and potentially optimize fatliquor usage. Oils and fats are important additives in the fiber spinning and fabric manufacturing stages of textile fiber processing. While fatty acids from natural oils still play a role in textile processing, oxidatively stable synthetic oils have superseded their natural counterparts. The textile industry is under pressure to reduce the amounts of or eliminate these additives, because of the environmental implications of the effluents. Recent developments to reduce the environmental impact of textile auxiliaries include the bio-scouring process, which utilizes enzymes to catalyze hydrolysis of warp sizes and impurities in cotton; specialty surfactants developed to allow combining of de-sizing and scouring without the use of amylase; a biodegradable stabilizer incorporated into a hydrogen peroxide bleach bath to reduce the load on wastewater treatment facilities; and reformulated surfactants to replace alkyl phenol products that biodegrade to materials that are toxic to aquatic life.