Learning About Leather
Vegetable Tanned Leather
The leather we use the most is vegetable tanned leather. This leather is tanned using tannins and natural materials found in vegetable matter. Tanning using this method is a lengthy process (months) done by expert artisans, which makes this leather quite costly. However it’s worth it due to the high quality and durability, not to mention, tanning via this method doesn’t use harmful chemicals and is environmentally friendly.
On top of all these appealing factors, vegetable tanned leather ages beautifully. The color of leather is generally a tan color, however the color could vary from each piece of leather depending on the chemicals and the original color of the skin. The color of the leather will change over time so don’t be alarmed if your leather products’ color looks a little different a year down the road. It’s just the natural aging process. This is also the type of leather most suitable for tooling and stamping.
We use full grain leather for our products. Full grain leather includes the outermost layer of the hide, which is also the strongest layer. Because of this, some scars and natural marks will be visible. In our opinion this gives each leather piece their own unique character. You will not find two pieces that are exactly alike.
Grades of Leather
Full Grain Leather
This is the grade of leather we use for our products. Full grain leather is the highest grade of leather and includes the top layer of leather. It’s the strongest, most heavy duty, best quality, and of course, the most expensive. You get what you pay for! Because it is the top layer of the hide, there are often scars and imperfections. It adds character and uniqueness to each product. No finisher is applied to this grade of leather allowing breathability.
Top Grain Leather
This is the second highest grade of leather and lies just under the top layer of the hide. This grade can look smoother than the full grain because it is sanded and finished to take away the imperfections that appear on the top layer. Although it is smoother and may look pretty, this grade is not as strong as the full grain leather as the strongest fibers get sanded away. A finishing coat is applied to the top which makes it slightly more stain resistant than the full grain provided the finishing coat stays in tact.
Corrected Grain Leather
The third grade of leather and what you will most likely find if you pick up a leather product from your local shopping mall, and is marked as genuine leather. Although this is real leather, it consists of the weakest under layers remaining after the top layers are taken off. This is top grain leather that has been further sanded and buffed to hide imperfects then an artificial grain is applied to the top. This can no longer be considered “top grain” after the sanding. Usually they will take leather of inferior quality and cannot be made into top grain nor full grain leather and make corrected grain leather. Multiple layers of genuine leather are often glued together or a piece of cardboard or something similar wedge between them and sewn together to create stiffness.
Split Leather
Split leather is what is left after the top layers are separated from the rest of the hide. These splits may be further split depending on the thickness of the hide. Like the corrected grain leather, split leather also has an artificial grain applied. Suede is another product that can be made from splits.
Bonded Leather
This is pretty much the plywood of leather. Leather scraps and shavings are glued together forming one piece of leather. This is often used for upholstery on furniture due to the reduced cost.