New Generation of Leather Aftercare

With years of experience supplying chemicals to tanneries and solving leather manufacturing
problems we can now offer this knowledge to commercial, industrial and retail customers to clean and maintain their leather upholstery. At nlc we offer the most advanced professional leather cleaning wipes available. Our leather wipes will not only clean leather upholstery to a high standard they have added conditioners and additives that are used in the leather manufacturing process. It will leave the articles fresh and protected. An added feature to leather wipes is its original leather fragrance, the leather upholstery after cleaning will smell like new.

With nlc leather wipes you are safe in the knowledge that your leather can be cleaned without the worry of damaging its surface. Not only are they safe and easy to use they are very economical. After years of experience in the leather industry these wipes have been formulated by leather technicians exclusively for leather using only top quality products that are only designed for the use on leather. Additionally they have a unique LEATHER ODOUR which closely resembles a true leather fragrance.

Why use leather wipes ?

Old v New finishing methods

With the manufacturing process moving away from the UK and Europe many different types of leather are now being imported from around the world in different tannages finishes and colours etc. As consumers you are not sure of the origins of most leather furniture its therefore advisable not to use creams and lotions together with strong cleaning agents unless you are one hundred percent sure that it will not damage the leather surface. Leather finishes are very sensitive to strong detergents and used incorrectly can damage the leather permanently.

Now let’s start with the softening process. Known in the industry as fatliquoring, oils are added during the tanning process to make the leather soft, supple and flexible. Today’s fatliquors are technically advanced using high quality, specially processed natural and synthetic oils that meet very high specifications. These new oils are firmly bound to the leather fibres so consequently minimum amounts migrate out of the leather, unlike the old technology. Because of this low migration continually adding creams and lotions to replace lost oils is not necessary.

The finishing process has also changed dramatically. Firstly the colour is applied using pigments. Pigments require a binding system to improve flexibility, fastness and adhesion to the crust leather. In the past this was achieved by using casein and resins, these products have poorer physical properties like flexibility and colour fastness. Consequently the finish would open up and form small cracks over time.

Today’s leathers arrive in many different shades and are finished using sophisticated binder systems that incorporate aliphatic polyurethane’s and high performance acrylic resins. These modern systems give the leather an enhanced resistance and as a consequence the leather finish should not crack.

After two or three base coat applications the top coat is applied. The top coat is the final stage of the finishing process. This final coat is designed to make the leather more resistant to wear and tear and improve general properties. Nitro cellulose was generally used for this operation. Raw nitro cellulose film is very hard so plasticizers are added to make the film more flexible and durable. Often the plasticizers would migrate into and out of the leather leaving the film very hard, therefore this lacquer coat would form cracks over time. As a result of this plasticizer migration the use of leather creams, waxes and oils were needed in aftercare products to try and bring the suppleness back into the leather.

Modern top coats are generally combinations of aqueous acrylic dispersions and cross linking agents. The film is of medium hardness allowing the leather extra flexibility and increased physical properties like colour rub fastness, this in turn improves the overall finish. A wide range of additives can also be added to modify the feel and appearance. The light and heat sensitivity is also much improved.

One perfect example of this is leather used in the automotive industry. In the past when car’s were left closed on long hot summer days plasticizers from nitro cellulose films would migrate into the leather. After time the leather finish would dry out and surface cracks would start to appear. As modern leathers use a completely different finishing system this migration and drying out is not such a problem, consequently they do not need to be treated with aftercare products containing oils. In our opinion the majority of renovation creams marketed today will remain on the leather surface attracting dirt and dust.

View the nlc leather care leaflet