Leather tannery: Hide delimining seen up close at tannery in Meerut district

From the archive record

The leather making process begins with carefully removing the hide from the flesh of the animal. The hides are then stored in temperature-controlled cool rooms and preserved in salt, and once ready for processing, are sorted by quality and weight. The next step is to soak the hides in large drums so as to remove any remaining dirt, salt, or other materials. The most common method of tanning is chromium-tanning, practiced about 90% of the time worldwide. Chromium-tanning is accomplished by putting the hides in large, rotating drums of water, and then adding the proper amount of chromium salt (a green powder). Continuous agitation of the hides allows for the tanning agent to be evenly distributed. When the tanning process is finished, the hides can officially be called leather. The lea