Article Surfing Archive

When it comes to leather, there is a wide variety in cuts and grains. The quality of your favorite garments and footwear will be significantly influenced by the type of grain you get too. The variety insures that you will be getting a quality product at a price you can afford. With so many types, it is important to keep in mind some of the most common of terminologies utilized in this industry. Whether you are purchase jackets, coats, boots, shoes, shirts, or pants, you will find that the grain you purchase will say a lot about you and your tastes.

Full grain leather is one of the highest grades purchasable today. Life can be good for cattle, and life for cattle comes with its own hazards. Sometimes, the cattle will get natural marking on them evidence in wrinkles, bites, scratches, and other types of marks. Full grain leathers are made from the natural hide with the natural markings all present. Full grain means you get all the natural beauty of the hide which is a wonderful thing in most cases. This is an appealing style these days where no two pieces will look identical. Very beautiful. Very pricey.

Embosses, plated, corrected, of buffed leathers are what you use when the full grain version would be too imperfect. These types are sanded or buffed to remove the natural imperfections. This also tends to remove much of the grains natural beauty, and thus is not as expensive. This is more treated than the full grains, and you will find many of the less expensive pieces you find are made of this type of material.

Sometimes, you will hear the term top grain. What is meant by top grain, and how does it relate to split grain?

Well, as you can imagine, the hide of the cattle or animal in question is going to have a variety of thicknesses when it comes to their hide. This means that the industry had to come up with a way to make the majority of leathers conform to a specific set of thicknesses. There is a machine that is fed thick hides, and the other side spits out a uniform set of hides with even thicknesses. The top portion is referred to as top grain. These will be a bit nicer and have a more natural look and feel to them than the split grains.

The split grains are the 'other' slices of hides left over after the top grain has been removed. These are going to lack a lot of that tissue strength you would get with the top grain, and be obviously less expensive. You will appreciate these for some purposes, but for more stability top grain is suggested.

When it comes to leather grains, there are a copious number of options. You can choose apparel such as shirts or pants, outerwear such as vests or jackets, footwear such as boots or shoes, or other types of garments or accessories to be made of this exceptionally versatile material. Knowing the differences in grains and splits will definitely insure you get more for your hard earned money and your time.