PRODUCTION & QUALITY
From Raw Skin to Natural Crust Leather
Karim Tanneries carries out every stage of production at its tannery in Gujranwala, Pakistan. Hand-selected goat and sheep skins undergo beamhouse preparation, vegetable tanning and natural crust preparation. The resulting leather is inspected, graded and stocked by grade, then measured and packed to order.
RAW MATERIAL PREPARATION
From Skin Selection to Production
Every batch of goat and sheep skins arriving at Karim Tanneries is sorted and hand-selected before production begins. Each skin’s quality and condition are checked against the tannery’s requirements.
Selected skins are soaked to restore moisture and prepare them for the chemical and mechanical stages that follow. This begins the wet stages of beamhouse preparation.
BEAMHOUSE OPERATIONS
Raw Skin Becomes a Pickled Pelt, Ready for Tanning
Liming loosens the hair and opens the skin’s fibre structure. A fleshing machine then removes tissue from the flesh side of each skin. Deliming reduces alkalinity and helps remove residual lime. Bating uses enzymes to help clean and condition the pelt.
Hand scudding removes remaining residue from the grain surface using a curved, blunt-edged knife. Pickling then adjusts the pelt’s acidity, preparing it for pretanning in the tanyard.
TANYARD & WET-END OPERATIONS
Where Pelt Becomes Leather
The three-stage tannage takes place in large wooden drums. Pretanning begins in the pickle float. Samming removes excess moisture before principal tanning and retanning. Together, the tanning stages turn the pelt into leather and develop its body and structure.
Neutralisation is followed by fatliquoring to lubricate the fibres and help prevent sticking during drying. A setting machine flattens the leather and removes excess moisture. Each piece is then oiled by hand.
NATURAL CRUST PREPARATION
Drying and Preparing Natural Crust Leather
The leather is hung to dry naturally, without artificial heat. Once dry, it returns to the setting machine for a second setting. Hand slickering then smooths and flattens the leather’s surface.
Hand trimming refines the edges. A vibration staking machine mechanically flexes the leather to relax its fibre structure. These operations prepare the material for inspection while leaving it undyed and without surface finishing.
INSPECTION, Selection & Grading
Personally Inspected, Selected and Graded
Muhammad Shoaib, who leads Karim Tanneries alongside his sons, personally inspects every piece of natural crust leather in natural daylight. He assesses its grain and surface condition, drawing on decades of production experience.
Each piece's grade places it within Karim Tanneries' own 9-grade system, grouped into 3 tiers. Buyers may request a specific grade or tier when requesting samples or placing an order.
WAREHOUSE & STORAGE
Leather Stored by Grade Before Order Preparation
Once graded, natural crust leather is stocked in Karim Tanneries’ own warehouse at its tannery in Gujranwala, Pakistan, organised and stacked by grade. Every piece is accounted for and held ready against a future order.
The leather remains in stock until a buyer’s order is confirmed. It is then measured and packed for that order, keeping storage separate from the preparation of leather for dispatch.
MEASUREMENT & PACKING
Measured in Square Feet, Packed to Protect the Material
Once an order is confirmed, an experienced team measures each piece individually and records its area in square feet for the buyer.
After measurement, the leather is packed into boxes. Each box is covered to protect the material from rain and moisture during transit, completing preparation before the leather leaves the tannery.
EXPLORE KARIM TANNERIES
The Knowledge Behind the Leather
Leather
Assess grain, body and handle in vegetable-tanned goat and sheep leather supplied in natural crust state, and explore grading and samples.
Vegetable Tanning
Three-stage vegetable tannage in wooden drums: pretanning, principal tanning and retanning.
Surface Development & Applications
Material handling guidance, plus buyer-led dyeing, finishing and trials to assess natural crust leather for its intended use.
Tannery to Design
Tanbark, Karim Tanneries' design brand for interiors: hair-on rugs, engraved calligraphy, artwork and custom work.
Heritage
Five generations of family history, tannery operations since 1960 and the people leading Karim Tanneries today.
Resources
Materials and processes, buyer-led development and Tanbark design, company and family history, buying and sourcing, plus photographs inside the tannery.
