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All About Timeless Leather

Wednesday, November 15th, 2017

American Leather Living Room Three Cushion Sofa ALE-SO3-ST

Leather products’ prices are often determined by the kind of leather used and how it was also produced. The one that is considered to have the highest quality is the full grain leather. The lowest type is bonded leather and, surprisingly, the ones that are referred to as genuine leather.

Expect to see sofas and other seating units to be cheaper if they were just made of bonded leather. High fashion producers such as American Leather provide you with full grain leather or what’s known as calf leather. There are even manufacturers who offer unique leathers like ostrich. The cheaper animal leathers include buffalo and goat.

Leather Colors and Dyes

It is also not surprising that the more expensive types of leather are fully dyed. The semi-dyed types are easier to prep and paint, hence, these are more affordable.

There are now producers of leather who machine spray their products. These are cheaper but you should choose the ones that have been antiqued manually.

White leather is the most difficult to produce, thus, a white leather bag, jacket or couch is sure to cost more but you will surely have a unique piece to be proud of.

High-quality leather furniture often uses vegetable tanning. This is tanning that does not use chemicals to dye the leather. Natural methods are used such as coloring with tannin and tree bark. While these methods take a lot longer as compared to chrome tanning, the products are a lot more beautiful and durable.

Italian leather is also often associated with high-end products. This is true. Italian industry is centered on treating leather in a lengthy process. They also use only quality hides unlike buffalo or goat hides (which originated in India) which have thinner, more odorous skins.

Understanding Leather Grades

In a world where product replication is widespread, it seems acceptable for everyone to have like-looking materials. Yet handmade leathers are the best kinds that are known to last for many, many years.

To know what you are paying for, here are the different leather grades –

Full-grain leather. This sits at the very top of the chain. It is referred to as full-grain because it has not been buffed out or sanded down. The marks as well as imperfections that came with the hide remain. The thickness of the skin is also kept intact.

Some may find sanding down this hide as a more appealing way to manufacture the product. Only the highest quality luggage, footwear, and furniture are produced from full-grain leather types.

Top-grain leather. The second one on the list is top-grain leather which shows a split layer with the imperfections no longer seen. Since the skin has been sanded down, it also becomes thinner making it a lot more workable for manufacturers.

The top-grain leather products are smoother to the touch and they are more resistant to stains. While the breathability is affected because of the finish, the fact that you won’t have to worry so much about cleaning it up offsets this negative aspect.

Suede. This is the one that has that napped surface when you look at its underside. This type is formed by using split leather with the top-grain rawhide taken off and the drop split left behind. When sanded down further, this can reach the right thickness that is required for the furniture, shoes or bags.

Cow leather is rougher to work with which is why goat, deerskin, and lamb are often chosen instead.

Though suede may feel great, it is not that durable because it can easily absorb liquids due to the pores on its surface.

Nubuck. This is generally regarded as the more durable counterpart of suede. It is manufactured by using top-grain leather hide that was slightly sanded. This feels velvety to the touch.

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