Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal raw hide and

skin, primarily cattle hide. It is one of the oldest of the commodities on the present-day world market.
- It is animal skin that has been processed to retain its flexibility, toughness, and waterproof
nature.
- It is the most historic of useful materials
- The natural surface of leather is similar to wood grain, each has its own distinct
characteristics. These unique features exude authenticity and accentuate the landscape of
each individual hide.

FOUR TYPES OF LEATHER:

o Full-grain-the strongest and most durable leather.
o Top-grain-is a high-quality product. It is produced from the hide but the outermost
layer is sanded off so that any imperfection or irregularities are removed. It’s a
durable product although not quite as tough as full-grain leather.
o Corrected-grain- is leather that has been sanded and buffed to remove imperfections
such as scars from the surface of the material.
o Split- is unique in the sense that it’s the only type of leather made from the fibrous area of
the cow hide that’s leftover from the processing of top-grain.

Full-grain Top-grain

Corrected-grain

Split
HISTORY

• Prehistoric people wrapped animal skins around their bodies for warmth.

• Romans used leather for shoes and tunics as well as for breastplates and shields. In fact, the
first recorded tanning guild was formed in the Roman Empire.

• Ancient Hebrews are credited with inventing the first tanning process using oak bark. The
American Indians used fish oil for the same purpose. American colonists found that plants such
as the hemlock and chest-nut trees could also be used for tanning.

• In the 19th century, machines were developed to perform these processes and an American
chemist developed a tanning method using chromium salts that cut the processing time from
weeks or months to just a few hours.

RAW MATERIALS:

• SKIN/HIDES

– from cows, pigs, goats, and sheep;

– exotic animals such as alligators, ostriches, and kangaroos

• TANNING MATERIALS

– Vegetable - extracts from the bark and wood of trees (oak, wattle etc.).

– Mineral - in the main, trivalent chromium sulphate. Cr2(SO4)3 ; amphoteric

– Aldehydes – formaldehyde CH2O

– Synthetic replacements

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

• the impact of livestock

• the heavy use of polluting chemicals in the tanning process

• air pollution due to the transformation process

• Leather biodegrades slowly