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Chamois leather is a type of porous, non-abrasive leather used as a drying material.
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Great Britain
The British Standard BS 6715: 19911 is widely considered to offer the correct definition of chamois leather. This defines chamois leather as:
- Leather made from the skin of the mountain antelope or Chamois
- Leather made from the flesh split of sheepskin or lambskin, or from sheepskin or lambskin from which the grain (the top split) has been removed by frizing, and tanned by processes involving oxidation of marine oils in the skin, using either solely such oils (full oil chamois) or first an aldehyde and then such oils (combination chamois)
United States
In the USA the term chamois without any qualification is restricted to the flesh split of the sheep or lambskin tanned solely with oils. (US Federal Standard CS99-19702).
The term is often mistakenly used to refer to cloths made from the skin of other animals (often common goat, kid or pig), or a synthetic material version, but these are not considered 'genuine chamois'.
Properties
Tests have shown that genuine chamois leather is the least abrasive drying material for any auto surface (particularly the various Lacquers). This, coupled with its softness and super-absorbent properties, has made it a very popular product for car-cleaning and drying through out the world.
The stretchy pores of the skin, which are very close, allow it to be used in micro-filtration. Its water absorbency makes it good for other uses, such as in cycling shorts (although most modern cycling shorts now use synthetic chamois leather). It was also used in purifying mercury, which is done by passing it through the pores of the skin.3
When soaked with clean fuel, chamois will not allow water to pass through its surface fibers. This property is used to filter fuel that has been stored in drums (always prone to ingress of water) or from any other doubtful source. The technique is to provide a large-mouthed funnel with a wide outlet surface that is supports a woven wire base, or grid of metal plate drilled with many holes. The lower part of the funnel is tapered to fit the receptacle or tank-filler aperture.
A suitably-sized Chamois skin is soaked in clean fuel and placed over the grid in the funnel and brought up the sides, forming a bowl, to prevent any leakage past the skin. Fuel can then be pumped into the top of the funnel by the fuel dispenser and watched for signs of water accumulation. The process can be stopped to lift out the assembly from the tank and the trapped water removed so that the job can be continued. Like this Chamois leather is used as a fuel filter by auto detailers—and aircraft refuellers, particularly of a past age where aircraft were flown into very remote areas.
Chamois leather is popular today on professional film and video camera viewfinders, as it provides comfort and absorbs sweat from camera operators who spend a long time with their eye planted on the viewfinder.
Being somewhat spongy, Chamois easily retains oil, making it good for wiping fingerprints from polished metallic surfaces such as on a firearm.
Chamois also has medical uses in orthopedics.
Chamois was also commonly used as a polishing cloth for use on jewels or shoes, for example.
In the 19th to the first half of the 20th centuries, it was very commonly used for gloves for men and women.
The true chamois leather is often counterfeited with common goat, kid or pig skin; the practice of which is a particular profession, called by the French chamoiser.3
References
- ^ http://products.ihs.com/bs-seo/00233590.htm Specification for chamois leather
- ^ http://www.chamoisinstitute.org/Standard/standard.html Chamois standard CS99-1970
- ^ a b This article incorporates content from the 1728 Cyclopaedia, a publication in the public domain.
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 21 November 2008, at 19:28.
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