Disclosed is a method for producing leather, which is characterized in that pelts, pickled pelts, or semifinished products are treated with at least one polymer that can be obtained by copolymerizing(A) at least one ethylenically unsaturated monocarboxylic acid or dicarboxylic acid comprising 3 to 8 C atoms or at least one anhydride derived from a monocarboxylic acid or dicarboxylic acid comprising 3 to 8 C atoms, (B) at least one vinyl aromatic compound, (C) at least one alkoxylated unsaturated ether of general formula (I), (D) optionally, additional monoethylenically unsaturated monomers. The variables in formula (I) are defined as follows: R<1>, R<2>, R<3> are identical or different and are selected among C1-C4 alkyl or hydrogen; R<4>, R<5> are identical or different and are selected among C1-C4 alkyl or hydrogen; R<6> is selected among hydrogen, SO3M, PO3M2, C1-C30 alkyl, -CO-H (formyl), CO-C1-C20 alkyl, -CO-C6-C14 aryl; M represents alkali metal, NH4<+>, or CH3; n represents an integer between 3 and 100; and y represents an integer between 0 and 10.