Alligator-Grained Leather
Leathers of various types, such as calf, sheep, or side, embossed to resemble the grain of alligator hide.
Apron Leathers
Any one of several varieties of leather used in connection with textile machinery and blacksmith aprons. Comber and Gill Box apron leather is soft, mellow, tough leather, tanned from steer hide, heavily stuffed and boarded or otherwise softened. Rub Roll apron leather is a flexible but firm, dry, strong leather.
Bark Tanning
So-called because tannin extracted from the bark of various trees is usually used. (See also Vegetable Tanning.)
Beam
A convex wooden slab sloping downward from about waist height over which a hide is placed for trimming of excess flesh and ragged edges and scudding by hand.
Biff
To beat a salted hide that has been placed on a rack, in order to shake loose salt from the hair.
Bleaching
(1) The process of removing oxidized tannins and insoluble materials from the surface layers of leather, in order to prevent crackiness of the grain. Bleaching is performed by dipping the leather in a weak alkaline solution to render the tannin readily soluble, dipping in water, neutralizing in weak acid solution and washing. (2) The process of lightening the color of chrome leather by treating with synthetic tannins or precipitating white pigment in the surface of the leather.
Blushing
Dulling or mottling of the finish of the leather resulting from condensed moisture during the drying of the finish. Also referred to a lacquer bloom.
Boarded Leather
Leather on which a false or accentuated grain has been produced by folding the grain side and working the leather back and forth. Hand boarding is done with a curved cork board attached to the worker’s arm and rolled over the folded skin.
Boardy
Adjective applied to stiff, inflexible leather.
Brush Coloring
The application of dye-stuff to leather with a brush or swab, the leather being laid on a table. Also called table dyeing.
Buffing
(l.) Knife or Abrasive – Removing minor blemishes from the grain with a knife or abrasive. (See also Snuffed Top Grain.) (2.) Emery Wheel – Producing a velvet surface on leather, usually with an emery wheel. (3.) Buffing Leather – A light cut of the grain portion used for book bindings, pocketbooks, etc., but not for upholstery.
Bull Hides
Hides from bulls are characterized by thick and rough head, neck, and shoulders, and by coarse flanks. They are often poor in quality and heavy, ranging from 60 lb (27 kg) up.
Butcher Cuts
Damage to hides caused by improper removal from the animal; usually in the form of cuts or furrows on the flesh side.
Bycast
A shiny, easy care combination leather made from natural leather hides processed and bonded to a man-made surface covering and then coated with a thick layer of polyurethane
Calf Leather
Leather made from the skins of young cattle from a few days up to a few months old, the skins weighing up to 15 lbs ((6.8 kg). It is finer-grained, lighter in mass, and more supple than cowhide or kip leathers.
Chestnut Extract
A tanning material made from the wood of the domestic chestnut tree and used in tanning heavy leathers.
Corrected Grain
Portions of the grain surface lightly abraded with emery wheel or sandpaper, so as to lessen the effect of grain damage. (See Snuffed Grain.)
Full Aniline
100% pure natural leather.
Full Grain
The most natural leather, It has the original grain surface of the skin, without having been treated to remove imperfections.
Grain
The outer or hair side of a hide or skin. Also used as an adjective referring to that side.
Grained Leather
Any leather on which the original natural grain, through any method, process or manipulation, has been changed or altered.
Hand Buffs
A term used to describe upholstery leather of the same type as full top grain except that the surface of the hide is lightly snuffed or sandpapered all over. Such snuffing removes only the top of the hair follicles. Also known as Snuffed Top Grain, Corrected Top Grain, and Top Grain Snuffed.
Head
That portion of the hide from the snout to the flare into the shoulder.
Heavy Leather
A somewhat indefinite term, generally understood to include vegetable-tanned sole, belting, strap, and mechanical leathers made from un-split cattle hides. More recently it also refers to thick side leathers.
Imitation Leather
Fabric coated with rubber or synthetic resin and embossed, printed, or otherwise finished to resemble leather. Some imitation leathers may contain leather fibers or other protein fibers.
Kangaroo
Leather made from the hide of the Australian kangaroo, usually chrome-tanned and with a glazed finish. Resembles glazed kid but has a fine grain and is one of the strongest of all leathers.
Machine Buffs
That cut of the hide from which a buffing of approximately 1/64 in (0.4 mm) (1oz) in thickness has been removed from the grain. This should leave a portion of the grain on approximately the entire hide.
Mocha Leather
Leather from any variety of hair sheep. After the grain has been removed by a liming process known as frizing, the fine fibers below the grain are sueded.
Natural Markings
The subtle markings on leather are analogous to finger prints. They distinguish genuine leather from manmade materials. Other marks which can appear on the surface of leather are healed scratches and scars, barbed wire marks, stretch marks, vein marks, wrinkles, brands and insect holes.
Nubuck
Otherwise known as chaps, stonewashed or distressed leather, nubuck leather is actually aniline leather that has been brushed to give it a soft, velvety feel. The grain surface of the leather is broken open to make it softer and give it suede like appearance. The breaking up of the surface fibers of the leather also makes it extremely absorbent and sensitive to heat and moisture. Nubuck leather is by far the most difficult type of leather to keep clean and stain free, even more so than natural leather.
Nude Finish
A leather that is usually vat dyed, but has little or no protective coat.
Oiling Off
Coating the surface of wet leather with oil before allowing it to dry.
Oil Tannage
Tanning with cod oil or other oxidizable oil, usually of marine origin.
Pebbled Grain
An embossed-leather grain finish resembling a pebbled surface, ranging from fine pebbled Morocco goat to heavy scotch grain upper leather.
Pickle
To treat unhaired hides with a solution of salt and acid in order to prepare them for mineral tanning or for temporary preservation until they reach the tannery.
Pigment-finished Leather
Pigmentation treatments are predominantly used on hides that are blemished or flawed. The surface of the leather is polished to remove marks and imperfections, after which the leather is treated with a special opaque pigment. The pigmentation process improves color consistency and protects leather against fading and damage. Like semi aniline leather sofas, pigmented leather sofas are also easy to clean and durable. If you know that your sofa is going to be subjected to sticky hands and dirty paws, then it will definitely be worth your while to look at investing in a pigmented leather sofa.
Pit
A tiny depression or hole on the grain surface of leather, due to natural causes or manufacturing.
Pull Up Aniline
Full aniline leather that has been treated with a layer of wax and oil to cause the a unique coloring over time.
Russet
A term of varied meaning in the leather trade, since it connotes both color and tannage. (1) Russet calf is the natural color of unfinished calf leather resulting from tannage by vegetable extracts. (2) Russet harness is a completely finished leather of bright, clean, uniform color and finish. (3) Russet sheepskin is leather tanned in cold-leached hemlock bark and used for shoe linings, with color resulting from the hemlock. (4) Russet upholstery is leather tanned but not finished.
Salt Stain
Discoloration on the surface of hides and skins, developed during the curing process.
Semi-Aniline
A protected leather that is dyed with a special pigment and sealed with a thin finishing layer. Because the pigment is solid, this type of leather ensures color consistency along with stain and spill resistance.
Scotch Grain
A pebbled pattern embossed on cattle hide or calf leather.
Scudding
A process used to remove remnants of hair and hair sheaths, hair pigments, fat, and undesirable protein constituents, lime soaps, etc., from a skin when a very clean grain for both smoothness and level dyeing properties is required. A skin is usually scudded following unhairing, and, while it may be done following bating, it is always done before tanning. The process is carried out over the beam with a curved, blunt-edged knife or, more often today, in a machine which squeezes and pushes the unwanted material (scud) out of the skin.
Shell
A portion from the butt end of a horsehide, from which leather of tight, firm fiber structure and fine grain is made. (See also Cordovan.)
Slack Tannage
Incompletely tanned leather as evidenced by a raw or under-tanned streak in the central layer of a piece. (2) A light tannage that is deliberately less than usual.
Snuffed Top Grain
(Also, Top Grain Snuffed) – Portions of the grain surface lightly abraded with emery wheel or sandpaper so as to lessen the effect of grain damage. (See Corrected Grain.)
Split
A term used to describe the portion of hide or skin, split into two or more thicknesses, other than the grain or hair side. Splits are usually named according to their sequence of production, such as “main,” “second,” or “slab” split (in case of upholstery leather);or for the use in which they are to be put, such as “flexible” (for innersoles): “glove,” “waxed” (for cheap shoe-uppers); “bag and case” (finished with pyroxylin or pigment finish), sole, etc.
Splitting
(1) – Cutting leather into two or more layers. (See also Upholstery Leather.) (2) – Cutting a hide into two sides preparatory to tanning.
Spready Hide
A hide of large area in proportion to the weight.
Suede
Leather finished by buffing with an emery wheel to produce a napped surface. Suede is not as durable as top grain leather.
Table Dyeing
The application of dyestuff to leather with a brush by laying the leather on a table. Also known as Brush Coloring.
Top Grain
The first cut taken from the grain side of a split hide from which nothing except the hair and associated epidermis has been removed. Top grain leathers which contain imperfections are often treated by sanding down the top and adding an imitation grain to produce more processed material, such as nubuck.
Top Grain Snuffed
A term used to describe upholstery leather of the same type as full top grain except that the surface of the hide is lightly snuffed or sandpapered all over. Such snuffing removes only the top of the hair follicles. Also known as Hand Buffs, Corrected Top Grain, and Snuffed Top Grain.
Upholstery Leather
A general term for leathers used for furniture, airplanes, busses, and automobiles. The staple raw material in this country consists of spready cattle hides, split at least once and in many cases two or three times. The top grain cuts go into the higher grades, and the splits into the lower grades.
Vat Dyeing
The application of dyestuffs to leather by immersion of the leather in a vat containing the dyestuff solution.
Veiny
Appearance of leather characterized by many clearly visible blood vessels, either closed or cut open by buffing or shaving operations.
Water Repellency
The ability of a leather surface to resist wetting by liquid water.
Water Resistance
The ability of a leather to resist absorption and transmission of liquid water.
Waterproofness
Non-transmission of liquid water through the cross-section of the leather.
Wrinkle
A permanent crease or furrow on the grain surface of a hide or leather, incapable of removal by rolling or plating.
