An Improved Process to Make Leather Soft, Durable, and Waterproof.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Feb., 1893-
Complete Specification Left, 27th Nov., 1893-Accepted, 30th Dec., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Process to Make Leather Soft, Durable, and
Waterproof.
I
:
I WILLIAM BECKER of No. 61 Bartholomew Road, Camden Road in the
County of London Leather Dresser, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
follows:-
to be as
To make leather soft, durable and waterproof I take a good and well tanned
hide, whose grain is not too loose. Tie the hide into a frame and stretch it with
the aid of the stretcher (moon) until the hide becomes thoroughly soft, but care
should be taken that every place is worked by the stretcher. I now take the hide
out of the frame and pass it through tepid water, then I put it on a glass or marble
table and press with the ironslicker and the stoneslicker to such an extent on the
grain that every appearance of the grain disappears. After this has been done I
grease the hide on the fleshside with good dégras pretty thickly, but care should
be taken that the back and the neck are greased thicker than the sides; the grain
in order to make it soft will then be rubbed with train-oil which must be free from
resin.
I now let the hide dry until the whole dégras is soaked in and it is advisable to
apply drying by air instead of by steam. When dry I put the hide once more on a
glass or marble table and press with the ironslicker and stoneslicker on the grain
after which I split the grain very neatly with a sharp ironslicker. Attention must
be given that this sharp ironslicker is not applied too deep otherwise the place,
where cut too deep, will become rough. By splitting of the grain is understood :
the uppermost stratuin of the hide (every hide has two stratums of grain and the
uppermost stratum containes the pores) is abstracted with the sharp ironslicker in
such a manner that the underlying second grain remains perfectly intact.
After the grain is split the hide is blackened with either ordinary blacking or
with an iron black which I prepare specially for this purpose and of which I give
in the following a description how I make the same and how I apply it: I take old
I leave
iron, put it in a cask and pour young beer or sediment of beer on the iron.
this solution standing for about four weeks, stir it however occasionally in order to
blacken the hide I dip a brush which must not be too hard in the first instance into
a solution of logwood (about two gallons of water to one pound of logwood) and
apply this brush thoroughly on to the hide, until every part of the hide is soaked
with this logwood solution; I take then a soft brush, dip it into the solution of
beer and iron and apply it softly on to the hide, which gives the latter a beautiful
deep black colour. When the hide is dry I use a woollen cloth, dip it into train-oil
and apply it softly all over the hide; by this process the black is fixed and does not
come off any more.
Now I take a blanket, fasten the same tightly on to a large glass or marble
table; I then place the fleshside of the hide in such a manner on the blanket that
the back of the hide is lying alongside the edge of the table. I now rub the hide
with a solution of hundred parts of vaseline-oil and thirty parts of ceresine, which I
boil together into an embrocation, and iron the hide all over with an iron which
must not be too hot, until the embrocation is thoroughly soaked into the hide. The.
surface of the hide obtains now a dull appearance and in order to remove this I
prepare a solution of soap (soap-powder boiled in water until it is fully dissolved;
then take off the fire and stir it until it becomes cold and pappy) and rub this on to
the hide by means of a woollen cloth. I then strew talc over the hide and also rub
this in with a woollen cloth and ultimately I slick the hide with a glassslicker.

page_text: The hide now obtains a fine lustre and is ready for use as soft, durable and water-
proof leather.
I claim as principal properties of this my invention
No. 1. The treatment and stretching of the hide before splitting of the grain.
2. The mode of splitting of the grain.
3. The blacking and the blackening.
4. The ironing of the embrocation into the grain of the hide and rubbing with
soap solution and tale, to give this thus produced leather a fine lustre and finish.
5. That the leather so produced does not break, is and remains soft, deep black
and waterproof..
1000
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Process to Make Leather Soft, Durable, and
i
Waterproof.
WILLIAM BECKER 61, Bartholomew Road, Camden Road in the County of
London Leather Dresser do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
A. FOR BOOT AND SHOE-LEATHER.
To make boot- or shoe-leather soft, 'durable and waterproof I take a good and
well tanned hide or skin, the grain of which is not too loose, soak the hide or skin
in water and shave it down to the required substance, put it on a glass- or marble-
table and press on the grain with an iron and stone slicker to such an extent that
every appearance of the grain becomes unvisible. I then hang the hide up and let
it dry perfectly. After this is done, I span the hide into a frame and stretch it
with the aid of a stretcher (called the moon) until the hide becomes thoroughly
soft; care must be taken that every part of the hide is worked by the stretcher;
I take the hide out of the frame now and scour it with the stone and iron slicker
on the grain. Then I put some train-oil over the whole grain-side of the hide and
turn it on to the table, so that the grain comes to lay on the table, and after
having-scoured the flesh-side of the hide, I grease the same with a solution of one
half degras one quarter tallow and one quarter train-oil. This solution must be
boiled together and must stand for a few days before using it. Special care has
to be taken that the train-oil does not contain any resin. Now I let the hide dry
until the whole degras is soaked into the hide; it is advisable to apply drying by
air instead of steam drying. When the hide is perfectly dry I put the same once
more on the marble table and slick it out with the stone and iron slicker on the
grain, after which I split the grain very carefully and neatly with the sharp
slicker. Attention must be given that the sharp slicker is not applied too deep,
otherwise the place, where the slicker has worked too deep will become rough. By
splitting of the grain it is understood: The uppermost stratum of the hide (every
hide has two strata of grain, of which the uppermost contains the pores) is
abstracted with the sharp slicker in such a manner that the underlying second
grain remains perfectly intact. After the grain is split I slick the hide with the
brass slicker and then blacken the hide with either ordinary blacking or with an
iron black solution, which I prepare specially for this purpose and of which I give
the following description how to make it and how to apply it is. I take old iron,
put it in a cask and pour young beer or sediment of beer on the iron; 1 let this
solution stand for about four weeks, but stir it occasionally. In order to blacken a
hide I dip a brush, which must not be too hard, first, into a solution of logwood
(1 lb. of logwood to about 2 gallons of water which must be boiled & then cooled

page_text: 5. That the leather so produced does not break or crack, that it is and remains
soft and that it does not become hard when it comes into contact with water, rain
or snow or when it is otherwise exposed to atmospheric changes, also that it is
durable, deep black and waterproof.
.. London, the Twenty-fifth day of November 1893.
:
i
WILLIAM BECKER,.
8, Lower Thames Street, E.C.