Alphabetical Search

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Sadden	Reduce the proportion of incident light reflected, scattered and/or emitted by a dyed material, by addition of a complementary colour in the dyeing mixture.
Saddlery leather	Leather used for all items of harness. Note: Saddles, bridles, collars, etc.
Safety Data Sheet (SDS)	See: Material Safety Data Sheet.
Safety device	Device which eliminates or reduces risk, alone or associated with a guard.
Safety instructions	See: Health and safety instruction.
Saladero	1. In Spain and Latin America a slaughterhouse where meat is also prepared by drying or salting. 2. Saladero hide, a cattle hide from Argentina corresponding to the USA small packer.
Salt (v); salting	Any treatment of hides and skins with a salt for preservation.
Salt diffusion	Penetration of salt into the fibrous tissue of the hide or skin.
Salt shake-off	Removing loose salt and foreign material from a salted hide.
Salt spue	Soluble inorganic salts can give spue problems in finished leather. Perspiration on vegetable tanned insole leather can cause inorganic salts to migrate to the surface forming a crystalline spue. Inorganic salts used in chrome tanned leather, if not removed by thorough washing, can also give spues.
Salt stability	Ability to remain unaltered and stable by the addition or action of salts.
Salt uptake	Amount of salt taken up, or absorbed, when hides or skins are treated with salt.
Samm (v); samming	Bring leather to uniformly semi-dry state (approximately 50% to 60%  water content) necessary for certain finishing operations, by passing it through the sammying machine or by pressing.
Sample size	Physical dimensions, proportions, magnitude, or extent of a sample.
Sampling	Obtaining of small representative quantities of material for the purpose of analysis.
Sand/grit removal	Gravitational separation in wasterwater of gravel, sand and other materials whose density is higher than that of water.
Sandalwood	Certain trees of Santalum species or their woods. Note: Santalum album (India), Santalum cygnorum (Western Australia); bark of latter contains 20% to 22% tannin.
Sandwich dyeing	A two or more staged dyeing process. Sandwich dyeing consists of changing the charge of the penetrated dyed leather before applying the second dye offer, which remains essentially on the surface. The second dye offer has an opposite charge to that of the leather.
Sanitary certificate	Document in which a sanitary fact is formally certified or attested. In the case of the leather industry, documentary evidence for the harmlessness from a health point of view of a batch of fresh or cured hides or skins. Note: Freedom from anthrax.
Saponifiable fatty matter (grease)	Fatty matter which is capable of conversion to soap by the action of an alkali.
Saponify (v); saponification	Alkaline hydrolysis or decomposition of an ester to produce the components salt and alcohol which, in the cases of animal and vegetable oils, fats, and waxes, are respectively a soap and glycerol or a higher monohydric alcohol.
Saturated acid	Fatty acid derived from the saturated series of aliphatic hydrocarbons.
Saturated air	Air which is holding the maximum proportion of water vapour possible under the given temperature and pressure conditions.
Saturated brine	Saturated solution of sodium chloride; used for brining hides.
Saturated fatty acid	Fatty acid which has no double bonds in the carbon chain. Organic compound with the chemical formula Cn H2n+1 COOH.
Sausage casings	Tubular material for sausage manufacture, made from intestines, disintegrated hide and skin pieces and splits.
Scab	Pimples caused by various bacterial attack eventually break and the exudate dries, giving a scab. Also refers to sheep scab - mange. Note: Scabs found on leather as a result of severe scabies infestation.
Scald damage	Localised damage caused to hides or skins by direct contact with steam pipes or hot water.
Scalding	1. The action of burning with very hot liquid or steam 2. Wash and clean the carcass of an animal with boiling water, to remove hair, feathers, etc.
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)	Type of electron microscopy in which a beam of electrons, a few hundred angstroms in diameter, systematically sweeps over the specimen; the intensity of secondary electrons generated at the point of impact of the beam on the specimen is measured and the resulting signal is fed into a cathode-ray-tube display which is scanned in synchronism with the scanning of the specimen. It requires the vacuum pre-metallisation of the sample (usually by gold).
Scar tissue	Fibrous (more or less distorted) connective tissue of which scars (permanent marks left on the skin after the healing of a wound), are formed.
Scars - closed/healed	Scars caused by healed lesions of the hide or skin. This damage originally caused by mites, ticks, brands, scratches, etc.
Scars - open	Typically a scratch on the hide which has not yet healed. Any other infestation that has not yet healed to form a solid scar.
SCCP	See: Short Chain Chlorinated Paraffin.
Scour (v); scouring	Process of cleansing and/or smoothing a surface by abrasion, such as a heel or sole.
Scour (v);scouring	Washing/cleaning process for woolled sheepskins.
Scraper	A scraper bridge is used in a settler to bring the sludge in a specific zone of the settling tank ready for collection.
Scraps	Parings, shavings, cuttings, trimmings and other fragments of skin  or leather formed during the manufacture of leather or leather articles.
Scratch	Damage to the surface of the hide or skin caused by such things as barbed wire, inoculations, shearing, machinery within the tannery, etc.
Screening (fine or coarse)	Retention of solid matter of more or less large size with the help of a screen which is calibrated accordingly.
SCSCP	See: Short Chained Sulphochlorinated Paraffins.
Scud	Pasty mixture of hair fragments, lime soaps, fatty matters, etc., forced out of hide or skin by scudding.
Scud (v); scudding	Working over the grain surface of limed, or bated, pelt with a blunt-bladed tool, by hand or machine, to eliminate hair fragments, pigment granules, lime soaps and other impurities.
Scud defects	Improper removal of partially destroyed cells, hair roots, pigment and fats left in the hair pockets after soaking, liming and bating.  Scud that is not removed can lead to an uneven colour of the grain and, in the worst cases, roughness of the surface.
Scudding knife	Double–handled, concave, blunt knife, used on the grain side of dehaired hides and skins to work out hair fragments, pigment granules, lime soaps, etc.
Scuff marks	Grain enamel of the leather can be damaged by sharp or rough internal parts of tannery processing vessels. Scuff marks cause devaluation particularly of full grain leathers. Note: Rough nails, bolts, splintered wood etc.
SDS	See: Safety Data Sheet.
Sea water damage	Damage caused to hides or skins during transport by sea from wetting with sea water.
Seal (v); sealing	Applying a special finish to seal the surface of the leather to assist further finishing. Also, this term is used to describe a protective top coat.
Seasoning	Application of a solution, based on film-forming materials such as albumen or casein, sometimes containing a dye or pigment, to give leather a protective coating, which may be more or less glossy or can be made so by glazing.
Sebum	Highly complex mixture of lipids (triglycerides and phospholipids) secreted by the sebaceous glands and epithelial waste which diffuses upward in the follicle and impregnates the hair and surrounding horny layers of the skin to participate in forming the greasy skin surface film. See: Phospholipids.
Secotherm dryer	Dryer in which the leather is pasted on to the sides of a stainless, or enamelled, steel chamber maintained at 95 °C for chrome leather and at 50 °C for vegetable leather.
Sedimentation	Method for elimination of solids by the means of settling from a liquor.
Seed/grass	Seeds/grass caught in the wool of sheep. These can penetrate the grain causing permanent damage. Also lower the grade and value of the wool.
Self-basifying chrome powder	Mixture of a basic chromium sulphate powder and a slowly-dissolving alkaline compound, such as calcium or magnesium carbonate.
SEM	See: Scanning Electron Microscopy.
Semi-aniline leather	Leather which has been aniline dyed or stained, incorporating a small quantity of pigment, not so much as to conceal the natural characteristics of the hide.
Semi-chrome leather	Leather which has been tanned first with vegetable tannin and then re-tanned with chromium salts. Note: In France, Holland and Italy it is used for a chrome/vegetable tannage.
Semi-chrome tannage	Vegetable tannage followed by a chrome tannage.
Semi-drying oil	Fatty oil, which could give a sticky and tacky film on exposure to air by homopolymerisation, with iodine value of 110 ± 10.
Semi-tanned leather	Leather which may not be sufficiently tanned to be satisfactory in use, though it may be stuck-through by the tanning agent, East India tanned sheep, goat skins, etc.
Semi-tannin	Organic constituent of a vegetable tanning material which may be taken up from an infusion made from it by hide or hide powder under certain conditions, such as in the filter bell method of analysis, but does not possess tanning properties; may be a phenolic tannin precursor.
Semi-Volatile Organic Compound (SVOC)	Semi-Volatile Organic Compound. See: Volatile Organic Compound.
Sensitise (v) ; sensitising	Generally applied to chemical substances or preparations or even materials which, when in contact with the skin of a person or an animal, cause a skin irritation.
Set (v); setting out	Operation of working over the grain surface of wet leather to remove excess water, to eliminate wrinkles and granulations, to give the leather a good pattern and to work out stresses so that the leather lies flat.
Setting out pleats	Pleats, generally around the edges of the leather caused by incorrect setting out by machine. Can lead to extra trimming and loss of area yield.
Settling tank	Tank in which suspended solids and colloids (in the form of floc after coagulation-flocculation stage) are separated.
Sewage (raw)	Untreated wastewater which is discharged after domestic or industrial use.
Sewage system	Piping system used to transport untreated waste water to the effluent treatment plant.
Shade	Slight variation from a given colour.
Shade (v); shading (fur)	Dye the fur in such a way that the colour gradually decreases from the roots to the tips.
Shade dried	Dried by exposure to air whilst stretched on a frame and protected from the sun, such as in a shed. See: Overdried; denatured protein.
Shading	Adjustment of shades according to leather samples.
Shadow finishing	Shading of certain parts of the leather in footwear and other leather products, usually by the leather manufacturer. Applies particularly to embossed leathers where a contrasting colour between the peaks and the valleys is achieved.
Shake method	Method to evaluate the tannins and non-tannins content in a liquid or a material (in solution) by measuring the amount of matter bound by the hide powder after shaking it together. See: Non tannin (NT).
Shank	Flat, fingerlike slab of material inserted between outsole and insole to reinforce the raised area of the foot arch against body weight and stress. The shank may be in metal, wood, fibreglass, plastic or other material.
Shape-retention ability	Ability of a shoe to retain its original shape with wear.
Sharpen (v); sharpening	Intensify the action of a lime liquor upon hides or skins by addition of a chemical.
Shave (v); shaving	Reduce and/or level the thickness of leather, suitable for its intended end-use, by cutting fine, thin fragments from the flesh side by a machine with a rapidly revolving bladed cylinder (or by a suitable hand knife).
Shaved weight	Weight of tanned hides or skins after wet shaving.
Shavings	Small pieces of leather shaved off when the thickness of wet or dry tanned leather is rendered uniform by a bladed cylinder.
Shearing damage	Nicks or larger cut in the grain caused by shears used for clipping wool or cutting off dung from hides.
Shearling	Pelt of a woolled sheep, about one year old, slaughtered soon after shearing and bearing wool about ½ inch to 1 inch (1,0 cm to 2,5 cm) long or the tanned and dressed skin of a sheep still bearing the original wool which has been cut to an approximately even length.
Sheepskin	1. 1. Leather from the unsplit skin of a sheep from which the hair or wool has been removed. 2. 2. Untanned outer covering of a mature ovine animal before removal of the hair or wool. 3. 3. Leather made from the skin of a wool sheep and still bearing the original wool.
Sheepskin prefleshing	Fleshing machine for the removal of fat deposits and the subcutaneous tissue (hydodermis, flesh layer) at an early stage during processing. Prefleshing is usually performed after soaking, as soon as the skins (especially air-dried sheepskins), are flexible enough to pass through the deburring machine for the removal of burrs.
Shellac	Non-thermoplastic film-forming material used for finishes. Coloured resinous substance, produced as an encrustation of tree bark by an insect. Note: Coccus lacca.
Shorn wool	Wool cut from the living sheep.
Short Chain Chlorinated Paraffin (SCCP)	Paraffin (organic hydrocarbonate substance) with the formula R-Cl, where R group represents a short-chain alkyl radical containing between less than 14 carbon atoms, used as emulsifying or fatliquoring agents, to give softness to finished leather.
Short Chained Sulphochlorinated Paraffins (SCSCP)	Paraffin (organic hydrocarbonate substance) with the formula R-SO2-Cl, where R group represents a short-chain alkyl radical containing between less than 14 carbon atoms, used as emulsifying or fatliquoring agents, to give softness to finished leather.
Short float unhairing, (Fasschwöde)	Unhairing in a short (low-water content) float.
Short Term Exposure Limit (STEL)	See: Threshold Limit Value - Short Term Exposure Limit.
Short term preservation	That period of preservation extending from hide or skin removal from the carcass to a week or two, or at best three weeks. See:  Chilling; cool (v); cooling; icing; biocide; irradiation.
Short term curing	Treatment of hides and skins by a method which will preserve them for a few days only. Note: Sufficiently long for transport from slaughterhouse to tannery.
Shoulder	Fore part of a cattle hide covering the shoulders and the neck of the animal, with or without the head. A squared shoulder is obtained by cutting off the head  including the cheeks and face.
Shoulder	Leather made from the fore part of a cattle hide covering the shoulders and the neck of the animal, with or without the head.
Shrinkage	Decrease in dimensions of skins, hides or leather produced by any cause, such as moist heat.
Shrinkage temperature (Ts)	Temperature at which a leather decreases in length and width (shrinks) when heated under specific conditions, for example, when heated in water.
Shrunken grain	Grain shrunken by a special beamhouse and tanning treatment that shrinks the leather to give the surface a unique fine-wrinkled effect. Used chiefly on kid, calf or other light leathers.
Shrunk-leather tannin	Very astringent tanning agent which produces considerable contraction of the grain.
Side	Half of a whole cattle hide with the attached offal  (head, shoulders and belly) obtained by dividing it along the line of the backbone.
Side leather	Shoe upper leather made from cattle hide sides.
Silica tannage	Tannage by means of an acid solution of metasilicic acid.
Silicate	Salt of an acid containing silicium and oxygen.
Silicofluoride (SSF)	Sodium silicofluoride (SSF), paste (12% moisture) or crystalline salt (Na2SiF6) used as an additive to salt in curing of hides, SSF prevents development of red heat, chromogenic and other bacteria. As an insecticide it is toxic or repellent to a wide range of insects including hide beetles and moths.
Silicone	Applied on dried leather, finished leather or leather products to impart water repellency.
Silk sheen	Silky suede with a two-way nap to give a plush appearance.
Silky suede	Suede leather with an especially silky sheen or gloss.
Silver leather	Leather with a silvery white, metallic lustre, produced by applying silver, or more commonly, aluminium leaf or an aluminium lacquer.
Single coloured	Hide or skin which has only one colour.
Sinker	Older form of layer, formed by half-filling a pit with tan liquor upon the surface of which a wooden grid (sinker) is floated. Hides are then spread, one by one upon the grid with shanks and head folded in, and each covered with a lesser or greater amount of ground tanning material until the pit is nearly full.
Skin	Tissue forming the outer covering of the body (human and other animal bodies), tough and flexible.
Skin grease	Broad term for the material extracted from dried skins by means of a fat solvent.
Skin wool	Wool removed from a sheepskin by the fellmongering process.
Skirting leather	Cattle hide leather, specially tanned and dressed for the skirts of saddles.
Skiver	Tanned outer or grain split of a sheep or lambskin. Note: Sometimes applied to goatskin. In Germany and Spain the term is also used for the grain split of a raw sheep pelt.
Slaked lime	Lime which has been treated with a more or less excess of water to convert it to a pasty mass of calcium hydroxide.
Slate (v); slating	Work over the grain surface of delimed, or delimed and bated, hides and skins with a blunt, rectangular slate or stone tool to eliminate impurities.