Dyes for the Automotive Leather Industry
The July spotlight products for First Source Worldwide are our line of Penetrol HF dyes for the Automotive industry. We created these dyes to meet the standards of fastness, starting with Migration Fastness, Lightfastness, Perspiration Fastness and Washing Fastness.
The increasing fastness demands by automotive leather consumers have caused the tanning industry to strive for improvements in applications techniques. As fastness can easily deteriorate with any change or development of an existing process, we have introduced new dyestuff ranges permitting specifications to be met with grater margins of certainty.
We selected these dyes to ensure that they met the standards of fastness that automotive leather is required to fulfill. The dyes were also selected on the basis of their high resistance to migration. The migration resistance depends on the type of retannage and fat liquor, the quantity of dye applied, and the type of dyeing process used, as well as on the selection of the correct dye. Also, pre-treatment is a key step in the coloring of leather for automotive. The diversity of the leather is a major challenge in consistently obtaining a perfectly prepared leather, for the next processing steps.
There are exceptionally high requirements placed in terms of quality upon all the components utilized to produce automotive leather. Our HF dyes have been developed to perform and fulfill the higher requirements in lightfastness and hot light fastness in order to perform. This is made possible by focusing in heat stability and resistance to photo chemical destruction
Penetrol HF Dye Range:
- Penetrol HF Beige D
- Penetrol HF Brown DGV
- Penetrol HF Brown G
- Penetrol HF Dk. Brown R
- Penetrol HF Grey GB
- Penetrol HF Grey LL
- Penetrol HF Orange G
- Penetrol HF Yellow Brown R
- Penetrol HF Yellow R
- Penetrol HF Red G
- Penetrol HF Black R
A Typical Formula
First, we neutralize and use a retanning syntan that will help the properties that we are looking for. Sortan SKM is a material with good neutralization and buffering action. This makes it particularly fitting as a neutralizing tanning material in the retannage of leather where fullness of shade, levelness and very good lightfastness is demanded.
When retanning we recommend two products, a phenolic retanning agent and a sulphonic retanning agent. Sortan W and Sortan FS will impart high lightfastness to the leather, along with soft fullness. Also, leathers respond very well to dyeing and level shades can be obtained.
For fatliquoring we recommend using an aionic fat liquor from the family of sulfited esters and oxidized fatty alcohol’s, odorless solvent and it is not hazardous to water, Meropol Oil 910. This oil has excellent uniform high penetration effect. So, you get soft leather with a nice light supple touch without affecting shade and uniformity of the color. Meropol Oil 910 does not yellow and it is odorless also has low fogging values. Meropol Oil 910 with these characteristics is excellent to use on automotive leathers that have to have very good lightfastness and very good migration fastness properties.
For fixation we recommend Merofix EC a it is a cationic fixing agent and should be used for the intermediate and final fixation of dyes, fat liquors and retanning agents. This product also has high lightfastness properties.
In order to obtain high lightfastness and migrant fastness care must be taken to ensure that all fat liquors, tanning agents and other chemicals applied together are equally resistant to yellowing.
At First Source Worldwide, we offer integrated solutions for dyeing. If you’re interested in learning more about the products we offer and specifically our July spotlight products, click the picture below!
About the Author: Jesus Medina
