Vegetable tanning

leather, one of the oldest man made materials, is tanned animal skin - a natural product. In its original form, it is breathable, permeable and protects against changing temperatures, wet and possible foot injuries, while at the same time being kind to the skin.

To convert an animal skin into leather which meets the requirements of the shoe industry, the skins today are often tanned with harmful chrome salts and the surface is laminated with plastics. Chrome tanning takes only a few hours and is therefore the quickest and cheapest method of tanning. It is performed using trivalent chromium salt that in high concentration can cause allergic reactions. Under particular circumstances, trivalent chromium salt can transform into hexavalent chromium salt, which is 1000 times as toxic as trivalent chromium salt. It is also possible that sweat on the skin causes this transformation. The waste water resulting from chrome tanning as well as other by-products considerably pollutes our soil and water. The substances that remain in the leather and get "under our skin" is largely unknown. Furthermore, to conceal possible irregularities like, for instance, scars, growth marks, insect stings, the skin is treated with a synthetic material like polyurethane. This chemical treatment might produce a "perfect" look but the leather can no longer breathe and it loses its natural character.

Two of the oldest tanning procedures used for the conservation of animal skins involve pieces of bark, wood and bile or - as it is done with leather used for Pololo - with the help of parts of the Valonea oak, extracts of the Tara fruit, rhubarb and other plants. Vegetable tanning takes considerably more time than chrome tanning but it is less harmful to both people and the environment. 80% of the vegetable tanning substances remain in the leather skin. The residual tanning substances are completely biodegradable and therefore do not affect the environment. Tests did not result in any irritation or allergic reaction of the human skin. The German Fresenius Institute carried out tests with 50 persons suffering from various skin rashes like neurodermatitis, allergic eczema and other skin diseases. After prolonged skin contact (approx. 48 hours) with undyed leather used for the production of Pololo leather slippers, none of these highly sensitive test persons showed any negative reaction.

ECOPELL leather which is used for our Pololos is produced by a vegetable tanning process and made in special consideration of the protection of environment and health.