A substance, chemical, or machine used to remove lime or calcium compounds from materials during manufacturing, especially in leather production.
From delime (de- + lime) + -er (agent noun indicating something that performs an action). Emerged as an industrial term in the 18th-19th century when leather tanning became more scientifically understood.
Early tanners used bizarre delimers—urine and dog droppings were actually traditional deliming agents because their ammonia content worked chemically to remove lime from hides. Science eventually created better chemicals, but the principle is the same.
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