Some of you might be interested in learning a bit about the tanning process for our lizard skin. Tanning is essentially the transition of a raw skin into a leather, without which the skin would be susceptible to decomposition and bacteria. The process involves these steps:

• Dry salting as a preservative measure
• Beamhouse operations:
• Soaking to clean the skins
• Liming to descale them
• Deliming to raise the acidity
• Pickling to further raise the acidity
• Chrome tanning to convert the material into inorganic material
• Shaving to degrease and thin out the leather
• Re-tanning to re-soften the leather for working
• Drying (either by hang-drying or by toggling)
• Dry cleaning
• Coloring
• Shaving to prepare the leather for the product
• Applying the finishing touches

The Beginning Steps

Hang DryingWhen we receive the skins from the suppliers, they're boardy and extremely susceptible to the elements. They arrive salted which removes the moisture from the skins and preserves them until we can work them. The first stage of the process is the beaming. First, we soak the lizard skin in water to clean them, remove the salt, and rehydrate the skin so that we can begin working them.

The Tanning Process

ColoringAfter that we move onto liming, which removes scales, nails, mucins, natural greases and fats. It also splits the fibers and makes the collagen in the skin workable. Next, we delime the skin to raise the acidity after the liming lowers it. The next phase is the pickling which is a treatment with acid to further lower the PH in order to allow the tanning chemicals to penetrate. After the pickling process comes the chrome bath which makes the skin durable and no longer susceptible to the elements. Once this is done, it is no longer an organic skin; it has become inorganic leather.

Finishing Touches

FinishingAfter this, we re-tan the lizard skin, this time using vegetable-based products. This is done so that the tougher skin that results from the initial tanning process is made supple again. We then either hang-dry or "toggle" (which uses a special type of oven to evaporate the water) to remove the water and humidity. From there, the finishing process begins, where we dye the lizard skin, shave it down to the required thickness for the application, and finish it with seasons and protective coats so that it feels good, looks good, and is protected from the elements. From there, it goes onto the manufacturer where they turn it into the footwear, furniture, handbags, etc. that you're all familiar with.

That is the basic overview of our lizard skin tanning process, and we hope that it has been both informative and interesting to you. If you have any questions about anything in here, please feel free to comment below, and if you have any other inquiries, don't hesitate to contact us.