Glazing leather

Glazing leather - Glazed leather

In the glazing treatment, the leather surface is compressed by strong friction and pressure so that it becomes smooth and shiny. To achieve a particularly high gloss finish, non-thermoplastic binders are applied to the leather surface, which prevent the leather from becoming soft and sticky during this process. Mostly, casein-based binders are used. The process is carried out by a glazing machine. Nevertheless, the manual effort for the glazing is enormous, which increases the cost of production. Alternatively, the leather is rolled smooth with a metal roller under high pressure.

High gloss crocodile leather, lizard leather, snakeskin, turtle leather or ostrich legs are mostly glazed.

Glossy leather is otherwise extremely water-sensitive and especially for shoes, a waterproofing final lacquer is applied to make the leather, water-repellent.