What is leather?
Leather is not made, but grown. It is a natural product and is processed into a desired end product using various methods. For the longer answer, we will delve into it a little deeper in this blog.
Various skins
The furniture industry mainly uses bovine leather, but there are several types of leather. In addition to cow or pig skins, there are also skins from animals that are considered more luxurious. These hides are processed into, for example, deerskin, lambskin and calfskin. The skins of crocodiles and snakes can also be processed into leather, as can fox and rabbit skins, or fish skins. The processing of skins from a number of animal species is controversial, for example because they are a protected animal species.
Different layers
An animal skin consists of three layers. The epidermis is the skin that we see during the animal's life. Below this is the leather skin (grain layer or full-grain layer) that is ultimately used. The subcutaneous connective tissue is the third layer. The top and bottom layers are removed. You can then treat the leather skin in various ways to create a desired end product.
There is an addition to the above explanation: the grain layer can also consist of different layers. If a hide is too thick for proper processing, it may be split into a split leather layer. This happens, for example, with cattle hides, which can be 5 to 10 millimeters thick. In this case, the grain layer, the strongest layer, is no longer called full-grain leather, but top-grain leather. The split layer is split leather.
Split leather
Split leather is fibrous and less coarsely woven than the connective tissue of the top layer. It is therefore weaker, rougher and of lower quality. It is therefore used less for furniture and more for bags, wallets and clothing, for example. There is no artificial processing, so split leather can also be regarded as real, natural leather.
After this, descaling takes place in barrels. The skin is then pickled to give it a supple structure. After these first treatments, tanning takes place. Various processes are possible for this. The goal of each process is to make the proteins in the skin insoluble. This makes the leather durable. After tanning, the hide is checked, run through a machine to even out the thickness, and some fat is added. Almost all skin has imperfections such as scars, scratches and insect bites. These are sanded away with a sander.
Types of leather
There are many possible finishes of animal skin. Well-known finishes are:
- Full-aniline leather: the leather is dyed through and through without further processing.
- Semi-aniline leather: the leather is first colored in a vat. A thin layer of lacquer is then applied for extra protection. The leather feels smooth and supple.
- Eco leather: Eco leather is a combination of leather and polyester. The leather part (often 70%) is often recycled (and therefore eco). This part is covered with a layer of polyester. This is easy to keep clean and requires little to no treatment.
- Nubuck leather: this is sanded full-aniline leather. This gives a luxurious velvet effect.
- Microfiber leather: a layer of microfiber with glue is placed over the skin.
- Old Saddle leather: the leather is waxed by hand.
- Pull-up leather: these are ground leather fibers that are pressed onto both sides of a cloth under heat pressure.
