The Oklahoma City times. [volume] (Oklahoma City, Okla.) 1908-1984, 1919-09-24
Leather Substitutes.

Sanced. lie military demands Tor
leather are tremendous, and little has
been available for private enterprise.
Suppose We examine briefly the meth
ods OF manufacture that go into the
making OF real leather and substitute
upholstery.
Leather upholstery comes, OF course,
from the hide OF steer. The tan
nerics receive the hide, IN what IS
known as green" state This is,
with the hair on and the skin nm.
tanned, Ai,er going through the
various preliminary proce" OF clean.
3nR, hair removal, etc, the hide goes
into 4 vat of weak tanning fluid
From this it'Rocs into . stronger So
luton and thcn into still stronger
pne, and so on until the operation Is
completed, which te1uires about
eight days.
The hide has now become leather,
but It's interesting career has only
begun. The next step in the odyssey
! d cutting machine. This ingen-
t0us tool is so accurately set aud
guided that the single hide, only a
fraction OF an inch IN thickness, may
be cut into almost any number OF
Sher,s OF leather. even down 10 A
thickness OF tissue paper. Oby,ously,
fhen. the torn leather is merely a
Relative one. The leather may be a
quarter Of an inch thick or /, may
b as thin as c:gares paper All
else being equal, the thicker the cut
the more servioeable and long last.
ing will he the leather.
Hide Now Leather.
Leather manufacturers have differ
ept names for the different cuts Of
leather. The top cut is known as the
buliing" and is generally employed
h the manufacture Of bcokb.ndng,
recketbookA and similar ligh, articles.
,s1he best grade Of leather is the cut
NeieA coess under the buifing. From
~ second Cut Of leather we get the
nyest type Of automobile upholstery
that can he made. But below this
there are several more cuts Mat vary
% value according 10 thickness and
other considerations. From all this
II will appear Just why the term
Heather upholstery does not neces-
,sarily mean what Il is usually taken
% mean. While the best grade of
Feather is uneoualed. a good substi-
ltute Il infinitely better than a poor
fseut from the hide ,
n After the cutting operation IND
leather goes through a number of
4o(her processes. II receives a fur
.fher tanning and is treated with oils
10 make II pliable. Finally it is
given various treatments 10 produce
The gloss and finish desired and is
ceiafed With pigments applied Tixed
with oil '
I. In the cheaper grades OF leather.
me thinner and lower cuts, the &nr-
44ce IS generally covered with a
ehemical compound which forms .
N4ft Of flexible film. Practically the
eeine thing is done in making leather
obStitutcs. so that the two products
~ almost identical, except thst one
2es . leather base while the other has
Il eotton cloth as foundation.
L 'A Cloth o. Substitute.
y Leather substitutes consist in the
final analysis of a base oi cotton
e)oth. on which Is laid n deposit OF
tollulose compound. These ingrc-
ents ID somewhat different form are
D0 The basN OF many modern high
bIvicsives, 30 that the fotorjs.s
g tedAy may be said to be sitting on
~ first cousin TO : charge Of nitro
ulycerin. Stripped OF detail the pro-
upps Of manufacturing leather subs,i.
IN slmmers down TO treating co,,o,
Ie3oth with nitric and sulphuric acids
~ give Il . gelatinous consistency.
Mn whEh oils are added to make
y psodact pHable.
A with leather, the value OF tho
estitute ID governed principally b.
!, y thickness, not only OF the cotton
oth but also Of the compound whc,
\. deposited upon il. This is 10,
II invafiabls rule. but Il Is near
npsgh to being so that the car buycr
Justified IN rejecting substitute
o1oep upholstery that Is thin and
~ substsncr.
4 perfect Is the likeness to real
I'M that. has now been produced
~ ssbstitu,e thar SHARP" sales.
n ifsqpentIy pass the latter as the
t - unsuspeeting customers
- Amattsr Of fact the manuiac-
4 VIII . good grade Of substitute
ne(hmg 10 apolohile for. II will
txeelIent wear and will look ex-
IN real leather during It's per.
4 service, II Z fsw ample aten.
o-Ate given Il u stated intervals
~ csvsrs lavaiuabls. r
~ begin with. the sooner III,
eiean motor car public learns thr
y d Tip covers the sooner il Will
- - save needless expense ior
lola9rins vehicies, These Gov
= ree1m1t The upholslef> whether Il
t0 5o1lhes " ottisit1ee, and the,
~ theA sest IN eny ess.
~ J. ~ ()tAs shov,d never b,
~ ~ lDhcl,tery. No mat,
And III III tn first slsy
n IL cieon oil any dus
w}D naooa0A ~ hsisi