Hair-on-Hide Hide Softener 5.0 by Leather Doctor® is a pH 5.0 emulsion of fat, oil, and water, a fatliquor softener conditioner to replenish dry leather hides, in line with its tannery science-based function.
Softener 5.0 restores leather hide’s internal lubrication, flexibility, strength, and resilience, replenishing the original fatliquor content of leather hide’s fibrous structure—mimicking the essential fatliquoring stage in professional tanning and retanning processes.
Hair-on-Hide Hide Softener 5.0 Key Benefits:
- Lubricates and nourishes the leather hide structure
- Softener 5.0 deposits fat and oil molecules that bond to the amphoteric protein fibers.
- These lubricate the fibrils, allowing them to slide over each other without stiffness, brittleness, or cracking.
- Reinforces tensile strength and elasticity
- Proper fatliquoring prevents fiber embrittlement and maintains leather hide’s natural strength and softness.
- Restores suppleness and prevents future damage
- Leather hide loses fat and oil over time due to aging, heat, sunlight, alkaline exposure, or cleaning.
- Replenishing it prevents shrinkage, stiffness, and cracks.
- Provides long-term structural protection
- Maintains leather hide’s dimensional stability and ability to flex without damage.
Tannery science basis:
- In the tannery, fatliquoring is one of the final and most critical stages after tanning.
- It ensures that leather hide stays soft, strong, and flexible as it dries.
- The fats and oils form a molecular film around the protein fibers, acting as internal lubricants.
Softener 5.0 brings this same process to leather hide restoration.
It ensures the leather hide is not just “looking good on the surface” but structurally rejuvenated from within.
Typical uses:
- Restoring dried, stiff, or shriveled leather hide.
- Rejuvenating leather hide after mold removal, alkaline contamination, or heat exposure.
- Conditioning leather hide during or after restoration, repairs, or refinishing.
Important note on process:
- Softener 5.0 works only when the leather hide is properly hydrated first (with Hydrator 3.3) to relax the fiber structure and open it up for fatliquor absorption.
- Without hydration, fat and oil can’t penetrate deeply or bond uniformly — leading to incomplete restoration.
Hair-on-Hide Hide Softener 5.0:
1️⃣ When applied, the water-encased fat and oil molecules penetrate deep into the leather hide fibers.
2️⃣ As the water gradually evaporates, the fat and oil molecules hydrogen bond with the fibers, creating a breathable, flexible structure that enhances leather hide’s resilience and longevity.
Proper conditioning ensures that leather hide retains its tensile strength, resists breakage, and maintains its natural softness, preventing premature aging and deterioration.
Instructions for Use:
Dilution: Mix concentrate with distilled water at a 1:5 ratio (1 part Softener 5.0 to 5 parts warm water).
Application: Apply generously and redistribute using an appropriate brush or pad until the hide is fully saturated.
Reapplication: Reapply as needed whenever water evaporates, leaving behind only the fat and oil.
Drying: Allow the hide to dry naturally. This helps develop a softer hand feel.
Finishing Touch: Once dry, enhance suppleness by staking, massaging, or flexing the hide. A light rewetting with Hydrator 3.3 may be used during this process to ease flexibility and conditioning.
Launch August 31, 2025 by Roger Koh
