Other effective ingredients of leather softener are various waxes, mineral oils, silicone polymers, cationic surfactants, amphoteric surfactants and non-ionic surfactants.
Leather softener plays an important role in improving the feel, softness and other properties of leather products. It is an important auxiliary agent for the preparation of soft leather, high-grade top leather and cowhide two-layer film transfer leather. In the past, tanneries often used the method of adding more fat to improve the softness, but the acid value, iodine value, saponification value, etc. of the oil will change after a long time in the leather, and the non-binding oil will also migrate, so now The application of softeners is becoming more and more common. Its dosage is small and its softening effect is long-lasting. It has very ideal effects when used in the processes of pickling, tanning, fatliquoring, dyeing, filling, and finishing.
In addition, sometimes the softener is required to have water-repellent properties, water-repellent properties or oil-repellent properties, anti-static properties, and decontamination properties. Most softeners are long-chain alkyl organic compounds with C12-18 (generally C16-18) and short-chain hydrophilic groups. The part that can cause softness is mainly the long-chain alkyl group. The main function of the hydrophilic group is to dissolve it in an aqueous medium. It has no direct relationship with the softness, but it has the function of the alkyl group oriented around the fiber. The long-chain alkyl group that occupies the end of the molecule is called lipophilic or hydrophobic because it still retains the properties of grease. The soluble group at the end of the hydrophobic group is called a hydrophilic group, because it can also pull the hydrophobic group into the aqueous solution while in contact with water. A suitable softener should be highly hydrophobic, and high hydrophilicity can only make it emulsify and disperse in an aqueous solution.
In general, saturated fatty groups such as pentadecyl and heptadecyl can impart smoothness and fullness to the leather; on the contrary, unsaturated fatty groups such as heptadecenyl can give leather strong softness and softness. Flexible, warm hand feel. The hydrophilic groups that can assist the softener include sulfuric acid, sulfonic acid, carboxylic acid, phosphoric acid, sulfamic acid, ammonium, and polyoxyethylene groups.