LEATHER ON FLOORS AND LEATHER ON WALLS: INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENTS

There has been renewed interest in the use of leather on floors and walls. Nothing illustrates this better than the “La Rivière” leather wall at the Quai Branly museum in Paris. As part of the Intérieurs Cuir pilot operation, CTC worked on the development of innovative leather floor tiles and leather wall coverings that can be used in the home and in professional interior design projects. Read on for more information on how these applications are produced and then used:

LEATHER ON FLOORS

With a view to reconciling elegance and robustness, CTC opted for the technique of fibreboard floor tiles covered in leather. The tongue and groove fibreboard floor tiles slot together. The floor tiles come in three dimensions, 60cm*60cm, 60*30cm and 30*30cm which makes it possible to create a single 90*90cm motif. A number of types of full grain leather are used: Rolled, vegetable tanned cows leather, mineral tanned young bull and buffalo. The final product must meet the following regulatory and functional specifications:

• Regulatory criteria:
  • Fire testing for flooring (EN 9239-1 and EN 9239/2, fire behaviour classification EN 13501-1: Cfl s1 or M3)
• Functional criteria:
  • Resistance to artificial light EN ISO 105 B02 72 h, score ≥ 3
  • Veslic dry rubfastness 2000 cycles, 500 damp, leather and felt score: 5/5
  • Taber scratch test: 100 g
  • NFT 30 038 cross-hatch adhesion test: Coating does not detach
  • Adhesion of the finish when dry, EN ISO 11644 11.9 N/10 mm
• The main manufacturing operations:
  • The leather is split to a thickness of 2mm
  • The squares are cut out
  • A 0.5mm border is made
  • The contact surfaces are glued (with a solvent-free glue)
  • The leather is attached and the edges turned
  • Lastly the tiles receive multi-layer varnishing with a PU varnish

 

LEATHER ON WALLS

Different techniques and applications are illustrated here, allowing the creation of leather squares which keep their shape thanks to treatment on the flesh side, lamination with semi-rigid supports and even the use of foam for lamb leathers. Many full grain leathers (mineral or vegetable tanned) are showcased: Calf, cow, lamb, goat, exotic leathers: lizard, shagreen, snake. The decorative aspects cover a variety of techniques: Cut out motifs, ink jet printing, embroidery, over stitching, graining.

• There are a variety of production methods but the following stages are common:
  • The right thickness is achieved by splitting.
  • The leather and self-adhesive lining are pre-shaped
  • The lining leather is laminated
  • The whole structure is overcut to the finished size
  • Then it is cut out
  • Lastly, the leather is glued onto its support

The tiles shown here are assembled by joints, edge to edge, the leather has a cut edge. Decorative effects are obtained by cutting out the leather at mid-thickness using a digital blade cutting machine.

If these products are to be used in any building that is open to the public, the decorative materials and the finished product must be treated with fire retardant products to meet the requirements of M2 classification.

The solidity profile meets the standards for decorative leather with a transparent finish.

• Resistance to artificial light EN ISO 105 B02 72 h, score ≥ 3
• Veslic dry rubfastness 50 cycles, 20 damp, leather and felt score: 5/5.

Contact: Éric Valot
CTC – Manager- Leather department