4. DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION:-
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims the benefit of the Indian patent application 1268/CHE/2007 titled "Incorporation of herbal oils in leather processing", filed on June 19, 2007 in the Indian Patent Office.
BACKGROUND
This invention, in general, relates to leather processing. More particularly, this invention relates to impregnating leather with a chemical composition comprising a liquid carrier and a herbal oil mixture.
Prior to usage of leather articles, leather articles may not be cleaned meticulously to remove accumulated dirt. As a result, the leather articles may get inhabited with fungus and bacteria over due course of time. Leather articles fitting, snugly on to an individual might resuU in restricted flow of air within the leather articles. The restricted flow of air within the leather articles may cause sweat in the region of contact of the leather articles with the individual. Typically, leather articles may not provide hygienic and medicinal benefits to the individual. The leather articles may contain chemicals that may cause skin irritation, fungal activity, bacterial activity, viral activity, infections, etc. The chemicals present in the leather articles may also result in a pungent odor over prolonged usage of the leather articles. Moreover, the absence of lubrication in the leather articles may lead to increased friction with the skin and may result in rashes on the individual's skin.
Hence, there is a need for impregnating leather with a chemical composition comprising a herbal oil mixture that conveys antibacterial properties,

antiviral properties, anti fiingal properties, anti inflammatory properties, and anti allergic properties to leather and the leather articles.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described in the detailed description of the invention. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential inventive concepts of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended for determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
The chemical composition and the method disclosed herein addresses the above stated need for impregnating leather with a chemical composition comprising a herbal oil mixture that conveys antibacterial properties, antiviral properties, anti fungal properties, anti inflammatory properties, anti allergic properties to the leather. Moreover, the herbal oil mixture also provides lubricating properties to a physical contact surface of an individual.
The chemical composition comprises a liquid carrier and a herbal oil mixture. The chemical composition comprising the liquid carrier and the herbal oil mixture is herein referred to as a "herbal composition". The herbal oil composition may comprise a predetermined quantity of a liquid carrier and from 6% to 8% by weight of a herbal oil mixture. The resulting herbal composition is impregnated into the leather.
The herbal oil mixture comprises chaulmoogra oil, neem oil, tea tree oil, vetiver oil, lemongrass oil, and any combination thereof. The liquid carrier may be water. The herbal composition may be impregnated into the leather during different stages of leather processing. For example, the leather may be impregnated with the herbal composition during pickling of skins or hides with a pickling agent. The leather may also be impregnated with the herbal composition

during chrome tanning of the pickled skins or hides. The leather may also be impregnated with the herbal composition during fat liquoring and retanning of the chrome tanned leather. Furthermore, the leather may also be directly coated with the herbal composition after processing.
The herbal composition imparts the leather with medicinal properties. The medicinal properties are transdermally tp a physical contact surface of the individual, for example, the individual's skin, by the release of the herbal oil mixture from the impregnated leather on absorption of sweat from the physical contact surface of the individual. The medicinal properties comprise anti viral properties, anti allergic properties, antifungal properties, anti inflammatory properties, and antibacterial properties that are transdermally transferred to the physical contact surface of the individual.
i-i
The impregnated leather may be used in the manufacture of wearable leather articles, for example, a golf glove, a glove for use in dermatology, etc. The herbal oil mixture released from the wearable leather articles provide lubricating properties to the physical contact surface of individual. A soothing effect is rendered by the glove for use in dermatology to the hand of an individual.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of the invention, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, exemplary constructions of the invention are shown in the drawings. However, the invention is not limited to the specific methods and instrumentalities disclosed herein.
FIGS. lA-lB illustrates a method of impregnating leather with a chemical composition.

FIG. 2 exemplarily illustrates presence of various fatty acids in chaulmoogra oil and their retention time.
FIG. 3 exemplarily illustrates presence of various fatty acids in chaulmoogra oil with their molecular weight, retention time, and area of each peak obtained.
FIG. 4 exemplarily illustrates presence of C 18:0 fatty acid, C 18:1 fatty acid, and chaulmoogric acid in chaulmoogra oil.
FIG. 5 exemplarily illustrates presence of C 18:0 fatty acid, C 18:1 fatty acid, and chaulmoogric acid extracted from leather impregnated with the chemical composition.
FIG. 6 exemplarily illustrates presence of various fatty acids present in oil extracted from chrome tanned leather impregnated with the chemical composition.
FIG. 7 exemplarily illustrates presence of various fatty acids present in oil extracted from non chrome tanned leather impregnated with the chemical composition.
FIG. 8 exemplarily illustrates presence of various fatty acids present in chaulmoogra oil.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIGS. lA-lB illustrates a method of impregnating leather with a chemical composition. The chemical composition disclosed herein comprises a liquid carrier and a herbal oil mixture. The chemical composition comprising the liquid carrier and the herbal oil mixture is herein referred to as a "herbal composition". The herbal composition is impregnated into leather during or after processing of skins or hides.

The herbal oil mixture may comp'rise one or more of chaulmoogra oil, neem oil, tea tree oil, lemongrass oil, vetiver oil, and any combination thereof
Neem oil extracted from neem seeds comprises properties including antibacterial properties and antiviral properties against gram negative organisms and gram positive organisms. The gram negative organisms may include proteobacteria, escherichia coli, salmonella, enterobacteriaceae, pseudomonas, moraxella, helicobacter, stenotrophomonas, etc. The gram negative organisms may also include bdellovibrio, acetic acid bacteria, legionella, cyanobacteria, spirochaetes, green sulfur, green non-sulfur bacteria, alpha-proteobacteria such as wolbachia, etc. The gram positive organisms may include bacillus, listeria, staphylococcus, streptococcus, enterocoocus, Clostridium, mollicutes, etc. The neem oil may also be used in dermatology.
Tea tree oil extracted from tea tree extracts may be used to treat insect bites, minor skin irritations, sunburns, wounds, nail infections, and dandruff. Tea tree oil may also be used against lice, fungus, mosquito bites, microbial activity, and bugs.
Chaulmoogra oil extracted from chaulmoogra extract comprises properties that may be used to treat skin allergy, leprosy, and leucoderma. Chaulmoogra oil may also be used as a local stimulant.
Lemongrass is an aromatic herb. Lemongrass oil, which is extracted from lemongrass extract, comprises properties including antimicrobial properties, analgesic properties, antipyretic properties, antioxidant properties, and antifungal properties. Lemongrass oil may be used for relieving problems of muscle spasms. The lemongrass oil may also provide a positive effect on the nervous system. Lemongrass oil may also be used in the treatment of ringworm and arthritis.

Vetiver oil may be used in the treatment of wounds, and insect bites. Vetiver oil is non-toxic. Vetiver oil helps in stiffening oily skin and provides relief from pain. Vetiver oil is widely used in perfumes and cosmetics.
Leather processing involves steps namely, removal of unwanted substances, tanning, and imparting desirable properties to the leather. The first step is to remove the unwanted substances like salt, dirt, dung, and non-collagenous materials from raw skins or hides. The second step is to stabilize the fine collagen network by tanning. The third step is to impart desirable properties such as fullness, tightness, softness, and color.
The steps involved in the method of processing 101 skins or hides to obtain leather are soaking the skins or hides, liming, unhairing, reliming, and fleshing the skins or hides. The fleshed skins or hides are subjected to washing, deliming, bating, pickling 101a, and chrome tanning 101b. Chrome tanning converts skins or hides to leather. Then, the leather is subjected to sammying lOld, splitting lOle, shaving lOlf, rechroming, and neutralizing lOlj. The neutralized leather is then washed lOlk and subjected to fat liquoring and retanning 1011. The leather is then piled and assorted into different categories of suede leather and garment leather. Suede leather and garment leather are crusted. The crust leathers are subject to wetting by a wetting agent. The leather is then dyed and fat liquored. The dyed and fat liquored leather is finished and a coating of slip agents are applied.
The method of leather processing and impregnating the leather with the herbal composition is explained as follows. Raw skins or hides are soaked in water with antiseptic and wetting agents to free the skins or hides from salt, dirt, dung, and blood soluble proteins. The soaked skins or hides are then limed to remove the hair, excess flesh, unwanted soluble proteins, and fatty matter. Liming is carried out with sodium sulphide, lime, and water to open up the fiber structure. Liming is followed by unhairing, to remove unwanted hair from the skins or

hides. The unhaired skins or hides are then relimed with lime and plumping agents to plump up the skins or hides, dissolve fatty matter, and remove soluble proteins. The skins or hides are then fleshed to remove excess flesh in the skins or hides. The fleshed skins or hides are subjected to washing in water to remove excess lime and soluble proteins. The fleshed skins or hides are then delimed with deliming salts like ammonium sulphate and ammonium chloride to remove the lime.
The skins or hides are then bated with bating enzymes to remove denatured proteins. The skins or hides are then washed in water. The washed skins or hides are pickled. The step of pickling involves treating the delimed, and bated skins or hides with common salt and mixture of formic acid and sulphuric acid in a drum to bring down the pH of the skins or hides to a condition required for tanning. The skins or hides may be impregnated with the herbal composition during the step of pickling.
In the examples given below, all components of the herbal oil mixture mentioned below are measured by weight percentage (%). For example, neem oil in example 1 is measured as 4% by weight. The herbal oil mixture is prepared by weighing the components into a container and mixing them in a liquid carrier. The example 1 below illustrates a method of impregnating the herbal composition into leather during pickling.
Example 1: During pickling, a pretermined quantity of a liquid carrier, for example, water and 6%-8% by weight of the herbal oil mixture is added to the drum. The herbal oil mixture comprises 4% of neem oil, 0.2% of lemongrass oil, and 0.5% of vetiver oil. The % weights of the herbal oils present in the herbal oil mixture are based on the total weight of the herbal composition. The liquid carrier is added to the herbal oil mixture to bring the herbal composition to 100%. Synthetic fat liquor in amounts of 2-3% by weight is then added to the drum. The

drum may then be run for 20 to 30 minutes. The % weights are based on the total pelt weight of the skins or hides.
In the herbal composition of example 1, the herbal oil mixture comprising 4% of chaulmoogra oil, 0.2% of lemongrass oil, and 0.5% of vetiver oil may also be used. Alternatively, in the herbal composition of example 1, the herbal oil mixture comprising 4% of tea tree oil, 0.2% of lemongrass oil, and 0.5% of vetiver oil may also be used. Alternatively, in the example 1, the herbal oil mixture comprising 2% of tea tree oil, 2% neem oil, 2% chaulmoogra oil, 0.2% of lemongrass oil, and 0.5% of vetiver oil may also be used.
The step of pickling is followed by degreasing to remove natural grease present in the skins or hides. Due to degreasing of skins or hides, the pH level of skins or hides increases. Hence, the step of repickling is carried out on degreased skins or hides. The step of repickling is followed by a step of chrome tanning. Chrome tanning is a step of tanning the skins or hides, where putrescible matter is converted to non-putrescible matter. In chrome tanning, 8% by weight of basic chromium salt is used in the pickle bath. The % weights are based on the pelt weight of the skins or hides. Pelts are the untanned skins or hides. Chrome tanning step converts the repickled skins or hides to leather. The chrome tanning imparts high thermal resistance to the chrome tanned leather. The repickled skins or hides may be impregnated with the herbal composition during the step of chrome tanning. The example 2 below illustrates a method of impregnating the herbal composition into leather during chrome tanning.
Example 2: During chrome tanning, a predetermined quantity of a liquid carrier, for example, water and 6-8% by weight of the herbal oil mixture is added to the drum. The herbal oil mixture comprises 4% of chaulmoogra oil, 0.2% of lemongrass oil, and 0.5% of vetiver oil. The % weights of the herbal oils present in the herbal oil mixture are based on the total weight of the herbal composition. The liquid carrier is added to the herbal oil mixture to bring the herbal

composition to 100%. Then, 2-3% by weight of synthetic fat liquor is added to the drum. The drum may then be run for 30 to 40 minutes. The % weights are based on the pelt weight of skins or hides.
In the herbal composition of example 2, the herbal oil mixture comprising 4% of neem oil, 0.2% of lemongrass oil, and 0.5% of vetiver oil may be used. Alternatively, in the example 2, the herbal oil mixture comprising 4% of tea tree oil, 0.2% of lemongrass oil, and 0.5% of vetiver oil may be used. Alternatively, in the example 2, the herbal oil mixture comprising 2% of tea tree oil, 2% of neem oil, 2% of chaulmoogra oil, 0.2% of lemongrass oil, and 0.5% of vetiver oil may also be used.
After achieving the desired level of penetration of chrome, the chrome is fixed in the leather by a step called basification 101c. Basification is the step of fixing the chrome on to the leather. The leather after chrome tanning and basification is piled for a day to further allow the chrome to be fixed to the leather.
The step of samniying follows chrome tanning and basification. The chrome tanned leather is sammed in a sammying machine to remove the excess moisture and conditioned for subsequent machine operations such as splitting and shaving. If the leather is thicker than a certain level, the splitting step is performed on the leather. The leather is shaved after the sammying step.
The leather is generally of non-uniform thickness. The leather of non¬uniform thickness is to be leveled down through shaving, to obtain uniform thickness as determined by the end use of the leather. The shaved leather is washed lOlg in water to regulate the moisture content of the leather. The leather may get dry in some portions while splitting and shaving. Therefore, the leather needs wetting-back for fiirther processing. The shaved leather is then rechromed lOlh. In the rechroming step, 4% by weight of basic chromium sulphate is used in order to incorporate more chromium in the leather and further improve the thermal

resistance, dyeability, fullness, strength, etc. of the leather. The % weight is based on the shaved weight of the leather. The rechromed leather is washed lOli in plain water to remove the unfixed chromium sulphate. In order to neutralize the free acid present in the leather and to raise the pH for conditioning the leather for subsequent operation, the leather is neutralized through the neutralization step. The neutralization step involves treating the leather with a mixture of sodium formate and sodium bicarbonate in a predetermined proportion. The neutralized leather is then washed in plain water in order to remove the salts formed during neutralization step.
A fat liquoring and retanning step follows the neutralization step. The neutralized leather is treated with 8% by weight of synthetic fat liquor or with mixture of synthetic fat liquors and retanned with a blend of synthetic retanning agents. The % weight is based on the shaved weight of the leather. Retanning is performed on the leather to obtain the required feel, fullness of the leather, and eventually to obtain a good nap in the case of suede leather and nubuck leather. The step of fat liquoring is carried out to obtain a predetermined degree of softness of the leather. The leather may also be impregnated with the herbal composition during the step of post tanning.
The step of retanning and fat liquoring is performed as follows:
A bleaching auxiliary, for example, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) in the quantity of 0.2% by weight is added to 100% of float, i.e., water at 60°C. The leather along with the bleaching mixture is run in a drum for about 30 minutes. Then, 2% by weight of synthetic fat liquor such as a pelgrassol LP, 2% by weight of retanning agent such as a novaltan PF and 1% by weight of sodium citrate is added and the drum is run for about 30 minutes. Further, 0.5% sodium bicarbonate is added and the drum is run for about 30 minutes to raise the pH to about 5.4. The leather is then washed and drained. The % weights of chemicals and water are based on the shaved weight of the leather.

The leather may be impregnated with a herbal composition during the retanning and fat liquoring step. The leather is put in a drum containing fresh bath, comprising 100% water at about 60°C. The compositions required for retanning and fat liquoring step are added to the fresh bath, comprising 3% of retanning agent such as a novaltan PF. The drum may then be run for about 20 minutes. The compositions required for the retanning and fat liquoring step, also comprising 5% of polymer retanning agent such as a novaltan MAP may be added to the bath. The drum may then be run for about 40 minutes. Then, 5% of basyntan AN may be added to the bath. The drum may then be run for about 30 minutes. The compositions required for retanning and fat liquoring step further comprising 5% of pellastol 94S, 5% of pellastol FS, 5% of dolagen PM, 2% of white pigment paste, and the herbal composition is added. The % weights are based on the shaved weight of the leather.
The example 3 below illustrates the composition and method of impregnation of the herbal composition into leather, during retanning and fat ,^ liquoring.
Example 3: The herbal oil mixture comprises 2% of tea tree oil, 2% neem oil, 2% chaulmoogra oil, 0.2% of lemongrass oil, and 0.5% of vetiver oil. The drum may then be run for about 60 minutes. 2% formic acid is then added in about 5 to 6 feeds with 20% water in 6 feeds at 5 minutes intervals. The % weights are based on the shaved weight of the leather.
In the herbal composition of example 3, the herbal oil mixture comprising 4% of neem oil, 0.2% of lemongrass oil, and 0.5% of vetiver oil may be used. Alternatively, in the example 3, the herbal oil mixture comprising 4% of tea tree oil, 0.2% of lemongrass oil, and 0.5% of vetiver oil may be used. Alternatively, in the example 3, the herbal oil mixture comprising 4% of chaulmoogra oil, 0.2% of lemongrass oil, and 0.5% of vetiver oil may be used.

After retanning and fat liquoring, the leathers are piled overnight. On the subsequent day the leathers are lightly set, dried, conditioned and staked in a staking machine to obtain a predetermined degree of the softness. The leathers are then toggled, trimmed, buffed on the flesh side with different grits of emery paper to raise the fine nap on the flesh side. After the leather has undergone the post tanning operations and other required mechanical operations, the leather is brought to dried conditions and the step is called crusting. At this stage the leather is called crust leather. Before it is dyed in to different shades, the crust leather is sorted into different categories and grades of suede garment leather and grain garment leather.
The crust leathers are further processed as follows. The crust leathers that include both suede garment and grain garment leathers are wet back in a drum containing 1000% water, 1% wetting agent and 1% liquor ammonia overnight. On the subsequent day the drum is run for one hour and washed in three changes of water to remove the wetting agents from the leather. Then the leathers are fiirther dyed and fat liquored. The % weights are based on the shaved weight of the leather.
The step of dyeing and fat liquoring is performed as follows. 500% of hot water (60°C) on crust weight is added with 1% of dye leveling agent, and run for about 10 minutes, then 6-8% of a blend of dye mixture is added and run for about 40 minutes, 6-10% of synthetic fat liquor of blend is added and run for 45 minutes, finally 2-3% of formic acid in 30% of water is added in 6 feeds at 5 minutes interval and finally the drum is run for about 15 minutes. The dyed leather is impregnated with herbal composition. The % weights are based on thp shaved weight of the leather.
After checking for exhaustion, the leathers are rinsed in cold water and then the leathers meant for suede garment are drained, by piling the leather for a

particular time. Then, the drained leathers are set and hooked for drying. The grain garment leathers are piled in a grain, to grain manner on a wooden horse over the due course of night. The following day, these leathers are lightly set and dried, toggled, trimmed and finished as follows:
The finishing step is performed using a seasoning agent. The seasoning agent is obtained by mixing 50 parts of pigment paste, 100 parts of soft acrylic micro resin binder, 20 parts of wax emulsion, 20 parts of feel modifier, 20 parts of fillers, 5 parts of ammonia. Water is added to bring the mixture to 1000 parts. The above seasoning agent is sprayed on the leather through an auto spray machine, and dried in between each coat, and checked for good covering.
Finished leather articles may optionally be given a direct coat of the herbal composition for impregnating the leather articles with the herbal composition. The direct coating may be used to either impregnate the herbal composition to non impregnated leathers or to restore the existing herbal composition in the impregnated leathers.
The herbal composition is used in retanning and fat liquoring step of garment leather, nubuck leather and glove leather separately. The herbal composition is expected to have very good health benefits on human beings, when the leather articles impregnated with the herbal composition are used by the human beings in the form of garments and leather gloves.
The finished leather is given top coat using nitro-cellulose lacquer emulsions and water in proportion and dried. The top coated leather is then provided with a special treatment by spray using slip agents to get the desired feel on the grain surface.
The processing of suede garment leathers and grain garment leathers are similar except for the quantity and type of syntans used. In case of suede garment

leathers, more filling is required to raise fine nap on the flesh side upon buffing. Hence, a higher percentage of syntans are used in suede garment leathers. In the case of grain garment leathers, the degree of drape (softness) is more important and hence a lesser percentage of syntans are used. Similarly the percentage of fat liquor is also different in the case of grain garment leathers as compared to suede garment leathers. The grain layer is disturbed by shaving and snuffing. The shaving and snuffing makes the leather softer in the case of suede garment leathers. Finally after the dying and fat liquoring step, the suede garment leathers and grain garment leathers are dry drummed. Dry drumming is performed to open up the nap in case of suede garment leathers and to get the required degree of drape or softness in the case of grain garment leathers.
FIG. 2 ilustrates the presence of various fatty acids in chaulmoogra oil and their retention time. In order to determine the presence of fatty acids in chaulmoogra oil, a sample of leather impregnated with herbal composition is taken. The herbal oil mixture in the herbal composition comprises only chaulmoogra oil. A Soxhlet extractor is used to extract oil from the leather sample impregnated with herbal composition. The soxhlet extractor is an apparatus used to extract lipids, fatty acids, oils, etc from solid substances. The main fatty acids extracted from the impregnated leather comprise hydrocorpic acid (CigHagOj), chaulmoogric acid (CigH3202), gorlic acid (CigH3o02), oleic acid (CigH3402), and palmitic acid (C18H32O2). The chaulmoogra oil is yellowish dark brown in color with a specific gravity of 0.955 at 25°C. The iodine value of the extract is around 101.5.
A first test is conducted to find retention time of chaulmoogric acid under predetermined gas chromatography conditions. The chaulmoogra oil is analyzed by gas chromatography with temperature from 160°C to 220°C at 5°C per minute (min). The test reveals that the Cig fatty acids elute from the column in close . retention time. It is found that the chaulmoogric acid merged between fatty acid carbon C 18:1 and fatty acid carbon C 18:2.

FIG. 3 illustrates presence of various fatty acids, given their molecular weight, retention time, and area of each peak obtained. The fatty acids are analyzed using one of gas chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography. On comparison, it is found that the elution of chaulmoogric acid is followed by the elusion of fatty acid carbon C 18:1 and fatty acid carbon C 18:2. The presence of C 18:0 fatty acid, C 18:1 fatty acid, and chaulmoogric acid is exemplarily illustrated in FIG. 4. The fatty acids are analyzed using gas chromatography mass spectroscopy of chaulmoogra oil.
FIG. 5 illustrates presence of C 18:0 fatty acid, C 18:1 fatty acid, and chaulmoogric acid. The fatty acids are analyzed using gas chromatography mass spectroscopy of chaulmoogra oil extracted from impregnated leather. Oil is extracted from a sample of leather impregnated with herbal composition and graph is constructed. FIG. 5 illustrates the details extracted from the graph.
The oil extracted using soxhlet apparatus is about 70% by weight. Further, ' by sweat extraction method, 5% to 6% by weight of chaulmoogra oil may be extracted from the leather impregnated with herbal composition comprising chaulmoogra oil, irrespective of the leather being chrome tanned or non chrome tanned. The % weights are based on the total weight of leather used.
The processed leather may be directly coated with the herbal composition. The direct coating of the processed leather may be used either to restore the herbal composition in the impregnated leather or to impregnate freshly processed leather with the herbal composition. The herbal composition is impregnated in a predetermined proportion to impart medicinal properties to the leather. The medicinal properties comprise anti viral properties, anti allergic properties, antifungal properties, anti inflammatory properties, and antibacterial properties. The herbal oil mixture also provides lubricating properties to the physical contact surface of the individual. On absorption of sweat from the physical contact surface

of the individual, the medicinal properties are transdermally transferred to the physical contact surface by release of herbal oil mixture from the impregnated leather. The impregnated leather may be used in the manufacture of garments. For example, when a layer of impregnated leather is in contact with a surface such as the skin on the hand of an individual, herbal oil mixture is release to the surface of the skin on absorption of sweat from the skin of the individual.
The leather impregnated with herbal composition may be used in the manufacture of wearable leather articles. The wearable leather articles confer the medicinal properties gained by the impregnated leather to a physical contact surface of an individual by the release of herbal oil mixture. The wearable article may also comprise a contact surface that controls the release of the herbal oil mixture.
The impregnated leather articles may comprise goods such as gloves, and jackets that are used in activities such as golfing, baseball, cricket, bike riding, bicycling, baseball, fitness exercise, industrial use, gardening, etc. The impregnated leather can also be used to manufacture leather garments like shirts with selective regions made of the impregnated leather.
The leather impregnated with herbal composition may be used in the manufacture of footwear, for example, shoes, sandals, etc. The skin contact regions of footwear, for example, the insole and inner lining of footwear may be made of impregnated leather. Due to body temperature and temperature generated due to friction between the impregnated leather and individual's skin, the impregnated leather releases the herbal oil mixture to the individual's skin.
The impregnated leather may be used to manufacture medicinal wearable leather articles, for example, a glove that may be used in dermatology, a golf glove, etc. The medicinal wearable leather article may be used in manufacturing innerwear.

The wearable leather articles impregnated with the herbal composition may lose the concentration level of the herbal composition after prolonged usage. The wearable leather articles may be given a direct coating of the herbal composition to restore or augment the concentration of the herbal composition.
The foregoing examples have been provided merely for the purpose of explanation and are in no way to be construed as limiting of the present method and system disclosed herein. While the invention has been described with reference to various embodiments, it is understood that the words, which have been used herein, are words of description and illustration, rather than words of limitation. Further, although the invention has been described herein with reference to particular means, materials and embodiments, the invention is not intended to be limited to the particulars disclosed herein; rather, the invention extends to all functionally equivalent structures, methods and uses, such as are within the scope of the appended claims. Those skilled in the art, having the benefit of the teachings of this specification, may effect numerous modifications thereto and changes may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention in its aspects.

5. CLAIMS
I claim:
1. A chemical composition for impregnation into leather, comprising:
a predetermined quantity of a liquid carrier; and from 6% to 8% by weight of a herbal oil mixture.
2. The chemical composition of claim 1, wherein said herbal oil mixture comprises predetermined quantities of chaulmoogra oil, lemongrass oil, vetiver oil, and any combination thereof
3. The chemical composition of claim 1, wherein said herbal oil mixture comprises predetermined quantities of neem oil, lemongrass oil, vetiver oil, and any combination thereof
4. The chemical composition of claim 1, wherein said herbal oil mixture comprises predetermined quantities of tea tree oil, lemongrass oil, vetiver oil, and any combination thereof
5. The chemical composition of claim 1, wherein said herbal oil mixture comprises predetermined quantities of chaulmoogra oil, tea tree oil, neem oil, lemongrass oil, vetiver oil, and any combination thereof
6. The chemical composition of claim 1, wherein said herbal oil mixture comprises 4% of one or more of tea tree oil, neem oil, and chaulmoogra oil.
7. The chemical composition of claim 6, wherein the herbal oil mixture further comprises 0.2% of lemongrass and 0.5% of vetiver oil.

8. The chemical composition of claim 1, wherein said liquid carrier is water.
9. A method of impregnating leather with a herbal composition, comprising the steps of:
processing skins or hides to obtain leather, comprising the steps of:
pickling said skins or hides with a pickling agent to reduce pH level of the skins or hides;
chrome tanning said pickled skins or hides using a chrome tanning
agent to convert putrescible matter of the pickled skins or hides
into non putrescible matter, wherein said chrome tanning converts
the pickled skins or hides to chrome tanned leather; ,^
fat liquoring and retanning said chrome tanned leather to render a predetermined degree of softness to the chrome tanned leather; and
impregnating said leather with said herbal composition during one or more of said pickling, the chrome tanning, and said fat liquoring and retanning;
whereby the leather is impregnated with the herbal composition.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the herbal composition comprises a predetermined quantity of a liquid carrier and from 6% to 8% by weight of a herbal oil mixture, wherein said herbal oil mixture comprises chaulmoogra oil, neem oil, tea tree oil, lemongrass oil, vetiver oil, and any combination thereof
11. The method of claim 9, wherein the leather is impregnated with the herbal composition by direct coating.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the herbal composition imparts the leather
with medicinal properties, wherein said medicinal properties are transdermally
transferred to a physical contact surface of an individual by release of a herbal
oil mixture from said impregnated leather on absorption of sweat from said
physical contact surface of said individual.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the medicinal properties comprise anti
allergic properties, antifungal properties, anti inflammatory properties,
antiviral properties, and antibacterial properties.
14. The method of claim 12, wherein said herbal oil mixture provides lubricating
properties to the physical contact surface of the individual.
15. The method of claim 9, wherein said impregnated leather is used to
manufacture a wearable leather article, wherein said wearable leather article
comprises a contact surface that controls release of a herbal oil mixture from
the impregnated leather during usage of the wearable leather article.
16. The method of claim 15, wherein the wearable leather article is one of a golf
glove and a medicinal glove for use in dermatology.