Controlling Fungus Attack on Indigenous Ghanaian Vegetable Tanned Leathers

Abstract

The attack of fungus on indigenous Ghanaian tanned leather and leather products lessen their surface qualities and socio-economic values. The paper describes technology that can be adopted to control the development of mould that affect the value of leather and leather products as a result of fungus attack.. Experiments were carried out using material/technical means to determine the possibility of restraining the negative impact of fungus attack associated with indigenous tanned leathers. The material/technical means refer to the use of sanding tool, to sand off excess flesh on the flesh side of leather; then also washing over leather with lime juice, boarding bee wax into leather and again rubbing over leather with thin layer of spray lacquer to protect it from moisture. The experiments proved that the presence of excess flesh and fatty substances left after tanning are the primary causes for development of mould on leather and finished leather products. The technology so devised has led to the production of leathers that can resist the effect of fungus attack.

Key Words: Fungus, Moisture, Sanding, Mould, Leather.