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What are the Different Types of Leather?

Niki Foster
Niki Foster
Niki Foster
Niki Foster

In its broadest sense, leather is any type of tanned animal hide. Different types of leather are characterized by both the type of animal skin used and the tanning and manufacturing methods employed. The most common types are made from cow hide, but leather from other animals, such as kangaroos and ostriches, is also popular in certain applications. Different leather varieties are suited to different purposes, including clothing, footwear, luggage, book binding, and drums.

An animal hide can be made into leather by a number of different methods, each of which lends different properties to the final product. Leather tanned with vegetable-based products is supple but can be damaged by exposure to water. Alum-tanned leather, created with aluminum salts, is less supple and can rot in water, but it can be made in much lighter shades than vegetable-tanned leather. A newer method of tanning, using chromium salts, results in a very supple leather that holds up relatively well in water. Brain-tanned leather or buckskin, made with animal brains or other emulsified oils, is washable and significantly softer than any of the above varieties, but it is also the rarest, as it is costly and time-consuming to produce.

A leather purse.
A leather purse.

Stiffer, more durable types of leather, suitable for use in drums, book binding, and, historically, armor, are created with different methods. Rawhide is made by scraping animal hide, treating it with lime, and stretching it throughout the drying process. Boiling in water or wax is another method used to make extremely tough leather.

The softer types of leather can be prepared in a few different ways. Full-grain leather, used in the finest leather products, is not altered past removing the hair and tanning the hide, so it requires raw materials of excellent quality. Top-grain leather is sanded on one side and given an artificial grain in order to hide imperfections in the raw material. The other side of this type of leather is fuzzy. Suede is fuzzy on both sides, as it is cut from the inside of an animal hide.

Bonded leather.
Bonded leather.

Other types of leather include patent leather, which has a very shiny, smooth finish, often coated with plastic; and shagreen, a rough leather usually colored green. Many special types are used in luxury products from gloves to pocketbooks. Belting leather is heavy and durable and can retain its shape exceptionally well. Napa leather is known for its softness, as is slunk, made from the hide of a calf fetus. Vachetta leather is typically used as trim on handbags.

Niki Foster
Niki Foster

In addition to her role as a HomeQuestionsAnswered editor, Niki enjoys educating herself about interesting and unusual topics in order to get ideas for her own articles. She is a graduate of UCLA, where she majored in Linguistics and Anthropology.

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Niki Foster
Niki Foster

In addition to her role as a HomeQuestionsAnswered editor, Niki enjoys educating herself about interesting and unusual topics in order to get ideas for her own articles. She is a graduate of UCLA, where she majored in Linguistics and Anthropology.

Learn more...

Discussion Comments

anon348436

My "leather" boots don't look or smell as if they are leather, though the box indicates they are. The heel portion looks as if it's suede, but the rest looks like something else. Is this becoming the industry standard? Can you slice and stretch the hide so thin, that it no longer looks or smells like leather?

anon131806

Dakshayani: Your questions have turned my brain to leather! If you don't want cancer, don't eat the leather treated with chrome. And learn how to do your own research!

anon64375

My name is dakshayani, and i am new to the leather division. i want to know more about leather details. please help me out.

i need to know how many different types of leathers are there, what kinds of washing we can require for the leather, and how to compare a leather from before wash and after wash. and lots of questions have been raised but i need a suggestion. Please, please, anybody help me out.

anon59617

You never answered the original question! What are the types of leather? I don't care where it comes from unless that is a type!

anon36348

what is stone leather?

anon8064

what is the perfect media to grow the organisms which degrade leather?

anon8063

most of the environmental pollution caused by leather industries.. are there any control measures for that... and not only that, if the person is working tannery, what are the percentage chances of getting cancer?..suggest preventive measures for not getting such types of diseases.

anon2363

What is rambler leather?

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    • A leather purse.
      By: Sam D'Cruz
      A leather purse.
    • Bonded leather.
      By: Jim Mills
      Bonded leather.
    • Suede is a type of leather that has a fuzzy, velvet-like surface.
      By: PRILL Mediendesign
      Suede is a type of leather that has a fuzzy, velvet-like surface.
    • Ostrich leather is commonly used to make wallets.
      By: Anke van Wyk
      Ostrich leather is commonly used to make wallets.
    • Boots are often made from leather.
      By: Deviant Ft
      Boots are often made from leather.
    • Full-grain leather is produced by removing the hair and tanning the hide, and can be made from only the finest raw material.
      By: nito
      Full-grain leather is produced by removing the hair and tanning the hide, and can be made from only the finest raw material.