Enzymes are applied during the preparation, dyeing, and finishing (“wet process”) stages of textile production, and even effluent treatment.

In some cases, enzymes are able to provide benefits that are not even possible with conventional
chemistry (e.g., biopolishing, which can lead to higher value end products).

• Cotton preparation and processing
• Wool processing
• Polyester treatment

In the leather industry, apart for effluent treatment, laccases may be used in removal of lignocellulose-containing dung cladding from the animal hides, and in replacing environmentally precarious chrome-based tanning agents in the process of leather making. Moreover, there are natural polyphenols in the animal skins that can be turned by laccase actions into lightfast pigments and can be covalently attached to the leather in a natural dyeing process.