There are many methods of processing leather. In this article, we’ re going to tell you about the most popular ones.
- Napa is processed cattle leather which is noted for its plasticity, softness and level dyeing. It’s durable but at the same time not very expensive. For example, it’s used for making leather jackets.
- Morocco is vegetable-tanned, brightly dyed leather from goat skins widely used for gloves, shoes, wallets.
- Velour is chrome-tanned leather ground on the inside and soft on the surface. Similar to velvet, it’s used for clothes and upholstery.
- Chamois leather is made from skins of any small animals. The flesh side is the front side. This type of leather has thick but not fluffy fleece. The leather is soft and also hydrophobic. Used for
- Shagreen is soft, vegetable-tanned leather from sheep and goat skins which has a beautiful relief. Used for book bindings, pocketbooks, small cases.
- Kidskin is made from sheep goat . It’s soft, thin and used mostly for making gloves. It’s tanned with aluminium mordants using salt, flour and egg yolk.
- Nubuck is soft, similar to chamois, cattle leather (cow skin or calfskin) with a velvet-like surface. It’s used mostly for making shoes.
- Patent leather is smooth leather covered with special varnish. Products made of it (like shoes or bags) can be worn only in temperatures from −10 to +25 and only in dry weather.
For reference:
– Artificial leather is a polymer material used as a substitute to natural leather in making footwear, clothes, leather and other products. It’s produced by covering the fabric base with film polyurethane coating. Modern artificial leathers are complex, composite polymer materials with different purposes and structures. There are many types of polymers used in producing artificial leather, such as elastomers, polyamides, nitrocellulose, polyurethanes and so on.
– Aniline coating is a type of finish that gives leather gloss and slightly straightens its surface. Unlike varnish, this coating doesn’t have such a distinctive gloss and it is much clearer.
– Tanning is a chemical process which turns animal skins into leather. During this process acids, alkalies, salts, enzymes and tannins are used for dissolving fats and non-fibrous proteins. Vegetable tanning is based on chemical effect of vegetable materials containing tannin (tannic acid). Skins are immersed for a long time in vats of increasing concentration of tannin. During chemical tanning mineral salts, such as chromic sulphate, are used. Tanning can also be done using cod liver oil and synthetic kinds of tannin.
All these types of leather are usually used for making footwear, bags and clothes. But recently the demand for laptop, tablet and smartphone accessories has increased very much, so leather is more used for cases, packs, bags and other accessories for different devices from numerous brands, like Apple, Samsung, Sony, and so on.
