Drying wetcleaned suedes and leathers
he objective of the
drying cycle in the Royaltone process for wetcleaning suede,
leather and trimmed cloth garments is to remove the residual
moisture left after extraction without causing the skins to
stiffen, harden or shrink as a result of the drying process.
Drying methods and equipment
Leather garments must be dried without
heat and must be thoroughly dry before any pressing or
finishing is attempted. Drying may be accomplished by hanging
the wet garments and allowing them to dry at ambient air
temperature or by employing various types of equipment to
accelerate drying. In
either case, heat is not to be applied to
wet suedes or leathers as the heat will damage the wet skins by
causing them to stiffen, harden, shrink, shrivel up and draw
up. So don’t do it!
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However, tumbling the wet skins in a cool
tumbler under 100°F for three minutes will shake out
wrinkles before hanging to dry. After they have been thoroughly
air dried, tumbling suedes and leathers for two to three
minutes at a temperature under 120°F will further soften
the skins and will fluff up the suede nap.
This step in the drying process can be
enhanced by including foam type tumbling blocks in with the
suedes to brush up the nap while they tumble.
Hanging to air dry
If the volume of suedes and leathers being
processed is small, the hanging space available is usually
adequate, so that air drying is not a problem. Plastic hangers
should be used to hang the wet suedes and leathers when air
drying to avoid the possibility of rust forming and getting on
the garments. As the volume of suedes and leathers increases,
hanging space may not be sufficient to handle the volume. In
that case, more space must be found or some type of drying
equipment must be made available or be acquired to speed up the
drying time.
Drying equipment options
One piece of equipment that may be readily
available is a laundry dryer. Suedes and leathers can be
tumbled in the dryer at a temperature of 100°F or less. The
flow of air over the tumbling items will accelerate the drying
time. If more than one dryer is available, more garments can be
dried.
Another way of moving air over wet hanging
suedes and leathers is to have a fan or blower blow ambient
temperature air over and through the wet garments to speed up
evaporation.
Fans and blowers can be used in
conjunction with a conveyor loaded with hanging wet suedes and
leathers. As the conveyor keeps moving the garments around
through the ambient air, the movement will promote drying. With
fans and blowers blowing ambient air over and through the wet,
moving garments, drying will still be faster. The more fans,
blowers and conveyors, the more garments can be dried per unit
of time.
The ultimate machine for drying suedes and
leathers is the specially designed dryer made for controlled
drying of wetcleaned garments. These dryers provide precise
electronic micro processor control of moisture content and
temperature of the garments during the drying cycle to ensure
that the right amount of moisture (10% to 12%) is left in
garments after drying. This controlled drying is critical to
prevent shrinkage and stiffening of the skins that would
otherwise occur in the drying process.
Summary
Hanging wet suedes and leathers to air dry
at ambient temperature is the least expensive but slowest
method of safely drying the skins. It can take 24 hours for a
suede or leather to dry by hanging in ambient air. For low
volume operations the space and time required for drying will
normally not be a problem.
Tumbling in a cool dryer at under
100°F or blowing ambient air over hanging wet suedes and
leathers is safe and faster but more costly in terms of floor
space, equipment and electricity required.
Drying in a microprocessor controlled
dryer is safe and fast, but requires a significant investment
in the special equipment as well as additional electricity
costs.
Frank Lucenta is president of Royaltone
Co., Inc., a firm that manufacturers the products he developed
to make it possible for any cleaner to safely and profitably
dryclean, wetclean and finish any suede, leather, fur and
trimmed cloth garment. He also wrote related instruction books
that document the process, entitled “Handling Leather and
Suede” and “Cleaning and Finishing Leather and
Suede.” He also teaches small groups of plant owners and
managers how to identify, accept, spot, dryclean and wetclean,
press and recolor suedes, leathers, and furs using his
Royaltone procedures and products. The next Royaltone Leather
training session is scheduled for Dec. 4-5 at the Royaltone
Suedemate Leather Cleaning Center in Tulsa, OK. For more
information on training sessions or on spotting charts in
either English or Korean, call (800) 331-5506, (918) 622-6677,
fax (918) 665-6017, or e-mail frank@royaltone.com. Information is also available on the Royaltone
web site, www.royaltone.com.
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