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An Investigation on the Properties of Rabbit Leather from Different Tannages

The non-conventional sources of raw materials, i.e. exotic skins are skins obtained from animals such as crocodiles, alligators, snakes and rabbits. Rabbit farming in Kenya has emerged as a good source of supply of raw materials to the exotic leather industry. However, there lacks detailed knowledge on the structural and physical properties of rabbit leather and specifically from different tannages. The knowledge would be of benefit to tanners in designing their processes as well as leather goods designers in designing products to meet the desired end-use. For this reason, a study was undertaken to analyse the structural and physical properties of the rabbit leather tanned using chrome and mimosa. The skins were collected from a local slaughterhouse and subjected to standard pre-tanning beamhouse processes followed by the respective different tanning processes. Physical properties of the crust leathers from the two tannages were analysed by determining the thickness, shrinkage temperature, tensile strength, tear strength, ball burst and flex endurance in accordance with IUP official methods. The statistical results for the two tannages were analysed using excel. From the study, the average shrinkage temperature of mimosa tanned leather was 83°C and chrome was 100°C. Notably, chrome tanned leather recorded higher tear strength value (37.4 N) than that of mimosa tanned leather (28 N). The other physical parameters were comparable for both tannages. Based on the results both tannages produced leather with physical properties that can be used in production of lining as well as fancy products such as watch strap