The use of protein binder from shaving waste for leather finishing: Judging from the physical, chemical, and morphological properties of lizard skin leather

Abstract

Shaving waste is the tanned hides/skins shavings produced by the leather tanning industry. The waste is very polluting the environment because it contains chromium, difficult to degrade, large in volume and light in weight. Therefore it is difficult to handle for the leather tanning industry. The purpose of this study was to deal with the problem of shaving waste which was very polluting the environment and to evaluate the effect of the application of protein binders made from the shaving waste on physical, chemical, and morphological properties of the lizard skin leather. The shaving waste was hydrolysed using NaOH and separated by filtering the results of the hydrolysis. Filter results were tested as protein binder and used for lizard skin leather finishing. The lizard skin leather was then finished with a variation of the protein binder 1:1, 1:3, and 1:5. Then, the leather was tested physically, chemically, and morphologically. The results of the organoleptic test showed that all variations were almost the same and met the requirement of Indonesian Standard on the quality of chrome-tanned snake finished leather (SNI 06-4586-1998). For the physical properties, all parameters met the requirement of SNI, except for elongation. Chemical tests results showed that all of the parameters met the requirement. Morphologically, it showed that the greater the ratio between the protein binder and water, the smoother the morphology of the surface.