Leather
Where does leather come from?
Leather was created as a food industry by-product from common animals as:
- Bovines
- Pigs
- Sheeps
- Goatlikes
- Etc....
How is leather used and what purpose does it serve?
- Footwear
- Clothing
- Furnishing
- Auto fittings
- Leather goods in general
Why Leather?
- It is natural product;
- Can be kept dust-free, which is a beneficial to allergy-sufferers;
- Has a comfortable and soft touch;
- Has an exceptionally long, useful life;
- Has a strong, durable surface that is not easily torn;
- Is easy to clean (Can be kept dust-free, which is a beneficial to allergy- sufferers);
- Improves with age.
Leather morphology
The animal hides can be divided in three principal layers:
- Epidermis: (1%)
- Derm: (85%) part used for the tanning process
- Subcutaneous layer: (14%)
Derm
This part of the animal hide is normally split by a mechanical process (called Splitting) into a top layer (Top Grain) and a thick lower layer (Split), which may then be further split.
Bovine leather:
Which part of the raw leather is used for tanning?
How can a bovine hide be splitted:
Some commercial classification of leather: