All About Leather

Leather is a natural product that varies in color and grain. Full grain leather will display the distinctive original markings that attribute personality to the uniqueness of each piece of furniture. Our leathers are hand cut and sewn to ensure that these variations in grain and color accent your piece; therefore not only is it normal to have shade variations within a single piece of leather, for a true connisseur of leather it is expected! Spots and Spills – Blot, do not rub, excess liquid away immediately with a clean cloth or sponge. Let the area air dry. Most liquids will initially repel from the leather. If left to stand over an extended period of time, they will be absorbed. If absorbed, stains will dissipate through evaporation or the fiber structure of the hide with time.
Corrected and High Performance Leather
Stubborn Stains – Use a clean, absorbent cloth or sponge. Apply a mild solution of any nonacidic soap and water, rub front to back or side to side. Do not rub in circles. Clean an area larger than the stain to avoid spotting. Wipe clean using a damp cloth. Go over the area once more using a damp cloth and rub cleaned area in one direction. Allow the area to air dry. It may be necessary to repeat this process for really stubborn stains. You may prefer to use distilled water.

Spots and Spills – Blot any excess liquid immediately with a clean cloth or sponge. Apply a mild solution of any non-acidic soap and water to the stained area. Rinse using a moistened cloth or sponge. Repeat the process if necessary for stubborn stains. Absorbed oil will dissipate through evaporation or the fiber structure of the hide. Spots and Spills – Blot, do not rub, any excess liquid immediately away with a clean white cloth or sponge. Let the area air dry naturally. Brush with a suede brush to remove any excess material and to restore the nap.

Distressed and Nubuck Leathers
Spots and Spills – Use a soft white cloth to remove immediate spills. If a stain goes unnoticed and penetrates the leather, use lukewarm distilled water and a soft white cloth to gently massage the stain and surrounding areas, do not use soaps.

Leather types

In general, leather is sold in three forms:

• Full-grain leather or top-grain refers to the upper section of a hide that previously contained the epidermis and hair. The hair and the epidermis have been removed from the hide/skin. Full-grain refers to hides that have not been sanded, buffed or snuffed (otherwise known as Corrected) in order to remove imperfections (or natural marks) on the surface of the hide. The grain remains in its natural state which will allow the best fiber strength, resulting in greater durability. The natural grain also has natural breathability, resulting in greater comfort for clothing. The natural full-grain surface will wear better than other leather. Rather than wearing out, it will develop a natural patina and change in its appearance over time. The finest leather furniture and footwear are made from full-grain leather. For these reasons only the best raw hide are used in order to create full-grain or top-grain leather. Full grain leathers can mainly be bought as two finish types: aniline and semi-aniline.

• Corrected-grain leather is any top-grain leather that has had its surfaces sanded, buffed or snuffed in order to remove any imperfection on the surface due to insect bites, healed scars or brands. Top-grain leather is often wrongly referred to as corrected-grain. Although corrected-grain leather is made from top-grain, as soon as the surface is corrected in any way, the leather is no longer referred to as top-grain leather. The hides used to create corrected leather are hides of inferior quality that do not meet the high standards for use in creating aniline or semi-aniline leather. The imperfections are corrected and an artificial grain applied. Most corrected-grain leather is used to make pigmented leather as the solid pigment helps hide the corrections or imperfections. Corrected grain leathers can mainly be bought as two finish types: semi-aniline and pigmented.
  Split leather is leather created from the fibrous part of the hide left once the top-grain of the rawhide has been separated from the hide. During the splitting operation, the grain and drop split are separated. The drop split can be further split (thickness allowing) into a middle split and a flesh split. In very thick hides, the middle split can be separated into multiple layers until the thickness prevents further splitting. Split leather then has an artificial layer applied to the surface of the split and is embossed with a leather grain. Splits are also used to create suede. The strongest suedes are usually made from grain splits (that have the grain completely removed) or from the flesh split that has been shaved to the correct thickness. Suede is "fuzzy" on both sides. Suede is less durable than top-grain. Suede is cheaper because many pieces of suede can be split from a single thickness of hide, whereas only one piece of top-grain can be made. However, manufacturers use a variety of techniques to make suede appear to be full-grain. For example, in one operation, leather finish is applied to one side of the suede, which is then pressed through rollers; these flatten and even out one side of the material, giving it the smooth appearance of full-grain. Latigo is one of the trade names for this product. A reversed suede is a grained leather that has been designed into the leather article with the grain facing away from the visible surface. It is not a true form of suede.