Novel environmentally-friendly products from BASF

As well as displaying their established range of products for the whole of the leathermaking process, BASF will be focusing this year on innovative new products and processes that offer distinct ecological and economic advantages. The highlights at this year's exhibition are Relugan GM, Relugan Soft HF and Eusapon OE. Eusapon OE, a new universal degreasing agent, is the latest addition to BASF's successful Eusapon range. The fat that is removed from the skin forms a very stable emulsion and the leather responds very well when it is fatliquored later on in the process. Eusapon OE is very low foaming, is easy to handle and easy to dissolve, even in cold water. It is economical and environmentally friendly, which makes it very useful in all processes performed in the beamhouse, from soaking through to bating. Relugan GM is a new glutaraldehyde tanning agent that makes it possible to achieve excellent results at an economical price. It is easy to handle and provides a cost-effective means of manufacturing wet-white. Quick and even penetration as well as good dyeability especially for white leather and pastel shades are additional advantages of this new glutaraldehyde. Leather treated with Relugan GM has a full, soft handle and a fine grain pattern. Relugan GM can be employed in pretannage and as a retanning agent. It is recommended for use on all types of leather, especially automotive leather and upholstery leather. Relugan Soft HF combines all the advantages of polymeric retanning agents and synthetic fatliquors. The leather is so soft over the whole surface of the skin that additional use of native fatliquors can be fully or partially dispensed with. Leather treated with Relugan Soft HF fulfils the highest standards of migration resistance, light and heat fastness, and it has very low FOG and VOC emissions. Relugan Soft HF performs very effectively on all soft types of leather, especially automotive and upholstery leather. It also opens up new possibilities in the field of shoe upper leather and garment leather, because it can be used to obtain washable leather and leathers with a low specific weight. The product range of BASF's performance chemicals for leather business unit includes chemicals for all wet-end and finishing processes in the leather and fur industries. They are a worldwide manufacturing and marketing organisation and further information on their products can be found at: [http://www.basf.com/leather] An international team of specialists will be in attendance at ACLE to inform customers visiting the stand about the latest additions to the BASF range as well as the company's extensive range of established high-quality products. Stand D17, Hall W2