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Types of Leather
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General
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Leather is a product of nature. Animal hides and skins provide the raw materials to make leather. The leather making process is known as "TANNING".
Advantages
• Leather is comfortable
• Leather absorbs moisture
• Leather breathes
• Leather shapes itself to the foot
• Leather protects the foot
• Leather is quality
• Leather is lightweight, yet strong
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Calfskin
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Leather made from the skins of young cattle, generally no older then 3-4 weeks. It is primarily used in better-grade men's and women's dress shoes. Calfskin leather is double or more than the cost of side leather.
Advantages
• Very lightweight yet strong
• Has a high ability to resist minor scuffing
• Beautiful grain (fine and firm)
• Highly porous
• Has excellent conformability
• Distinctive look
• Takes and holds a shine
• Great Color Depth
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Veal
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Leather made from the skins of older cattle, generally 3-6 months. It is primarily used in casual styles of footwear. Veal is rich in character with a coarser grain than calfskin.
Advantages
• Breathability
• Distinctive grain and character
• Accepts a wide range of finishes
• Conformability
• Distinctive look
• Takes and holds a shine
• Great Color Depth
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Full Grain Side Leather
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Side leather used for shoe uppers is the most versatile leather used. It is also used for other parts including linings.
Shoe upper leather consists of the hair side of cattle hides. The name side leather originated from dividing a hide along the backbone into two halves or "sides". This is the most commonly used shoe upper leather.
Full grain and top grain are the same. Natural hide surface is developed with finishing from premium hides.
Advantages
• Very serviceable
• Breathability
• Conformability
• Has good aesthetics
• Responds to fashion trends
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Nubuc
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A slightly buffed version of side leather. Split Leather or Brushed Leather. Split leather is created when thick cattle sides are machine split to obtain a desired side leather thickness. The top portion is the grain layer; the bottom or underneath is the split layer and referred to as "split".
Split leather is chrome tanned and generally comparatively lightweight. To the unpracticed eye, it may be difficult to identify split leather from reverse side leather. More than likely footwear with split leather uppers will be priced lower.
Advantages
• Can be used for both insoles & outsoles
• Lightweight
• Flexible
• Good color density
• Select grain appearance
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Kidskin Leather
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Leather made from the skin of young or mature goats. Kidskin is more expensive than side leather but less expensive than calf. It is primarily used on women's better-grade dress shoes.
Kidskin finished on the flesh side for use in footwear is commonly called SUEDE. Suede or sueding is a process of sandpapering, abrading a hide or skin. Sueded kidskin (kidskin suede) is developed through a specially created series of treatments with natural and chemical materials and solutions.
Advantages
• Very lightweight
• Very strong
• Very soft and porous
• Very resilient
• Great latitude of design
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Pigskin
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Pigskin leather for use in footwear is produced from the skins of domestic pigs and hogs. It is the relatively recent development of machinery allowing proper skinning, or "take-off", that made pigskins available in feasible amounts and in proper condition to be chrome tanned. Most pigskin leather in footwear is sueded or "brushed" on the grain side. Because pigs are an aggressive animal, the grain surface of the skins are heavily scarred and damaged thus a bit less pleasing to the eye, aesthetically difficult, when finished as full grain, smooth leather for footwear.
Pigskin leather's affinity for dyes makes possible a wide range of colors that are used in volume fashion shoes and boots not only in women's but also in men's and children's styles. This special signature of nature makes pigskin leather easily distinguishable as well as distinctive.
Advantages
• Durable
• Supple
• Breathable
• Flexible
• Lightweight
• Extremely porous
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Miscellaneous Leather Types
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Smooth Leather...the obvious surface finish...broad terms used.
Wax Finish...wax is worked into the flesh side of heavier weights of leather, resulting in a distinctive finish often used in casual styles.
Grain leather...primarily in connection with lesser priced footwear...usually lower grades of cowhide and split leather.
Antiqued...contrasting color spot sprayed on leather surface...rubbed to create highlights...part of footwear manufacturing process.
Brush-off leather...color added to surface by tanner...manufacturer uses brushing wheel to take off some coloring material...changes color tone.
Rawhide laces...side leather...mineral tanned (usually combination of alum, chrome and vegetable tannages)...sides are stripped (cut in many sizes and thicknesses and lengths)...dyed various colors.
Lining leather...can be most any leather...from various animals including cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, kangaroo.
Deerskin...hides of deer...chrome tanned...provided to tanner by hunters and collectors of hides...very supple...extremely porous.
Aniline...produces a transparent mirrored look showing the grain pattern.
Pigment...gives an opaque surface more like painted over and covers grain, scars etc.
Suede...merely buffed to create nap.
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