Finishing week at BSLT

Supporting this year's 'Finishing Week' at the British School of Leather Technology in Northampton, England, in February, Stahl provided a training course covering both the practical and theoretical aspects of leather finishing. In addition to delegates from the UK, students came from as far afield as China, Kenya, Bangladesh, Mexico, Singapore, Canada, Jordan and Türkiye. Course tutor, Peter Jessop, Stahl International's leather finish technical liaison manager explains: 'Finishing Week is one of the most important calendar events at the British School of Leather Technology and provides a unique opportunity for the students dedicated to training in leather finishing.' Assisting Jessop were Stahl leather finishing specialists Wolfgang Schmalzle from Holland and Mervyn Alcock and Richard Burton from the UK. Chris Thorpe, a Stahl shoe finishing expert, provided a practical demonstration to show the benefits that could be achieved by the application of shoe dressings in the shoe factory. A highlight of this year's course was an opportunity to view a presentation on CD-ROM showing a compilation of modern finish application machinery being used in the real-life tannery environment. Students were presented with their own copies. Tutorials covered widely varying finishing topics, including impregnation, the evaluation of different types of resin, the use and benefits of using cationic products, and the importance of reducing solvent emissions to the atmosphere. Students were invited to try their hands at producing a range of fashion finishes including brush-off, natural cationic soft full grain, impregnation, aviator and oil pull-up.