The hides come out of this looking a light blue color, which is where a dye is usually applied. After allowing the leather to be pickled in an acid salt mixture, it is moved into chromium sulphate bath, raising the pH and restoring the leather to a more flexible state. You can read about that in our blog " How to Identify Types of Leather." As I mentioned earlier, this process is very quick, usually finished within a day. Chrome tanning differs from vegetable tanning in that it soaks the stiff cowhide in a solution of chemicals, acids and salts to dye it, usually by three different methods: aniline, semi-aniline, and pigmented. Due to the immense amount of time it takes to produce one of a vegetable tanned hide, they also veer on the more expensive side, and are a bit more difficult to find.Ĭhrome tanned leather, on the other hand, is highly available, accounting for ninety percent of U.S. Because of this, vegetable tanned leather may require more regular cleaning to remain healthy (read about cleaning and conditioning routines in our blog " How Often Should I Condition Leather?". Vegetable tanned leather stains very easily, is more susceptible to heat, and very susceptible to water. Unfortunately, because it is entirely natural, it also needs more maintenance than other leather types. Indeed, this leather actually improves with age, and is most likely to develop a patina. The materials used to create vegetable tanned leather are entirely natural, and as it is created individually, each piece will be unique. Additionally, the task requires experienced craftsmen to maintain them using methods mostly by hand. Whereas chrome tanning can take less than a day to produce leather, vegetable tanning can take upwards of forty to sixty days. Part of the reason is because of the length of time it takes to make this leather. Since that time, it has been developed and improved considerably, but is now represented by under ten percent of all US's tanned leather produce. Whereas chrome tanning started coming into use by the 1850s, vegetable tanning, or varieties of it, have been in use since Ancient Egypt and Greece. Vegetable tanning has a few years on chrome tanning. This is where chrome leather tanning and vegetable leather tanning come in, and our fun game begins. To this end, it is soaked in a solution that converts the skin’s proteins into a more resilient form. The point of leather tanning is to make stiff, raw cowhide (or whatever other animal you are working with) into a durable, flexible material receptive to conditioners and cleaners like Chamberlain’s Leather Care Liniment No. It’s very fragile as well, capable of decaying again when rewetted, and otherwise very far from what we want leather to look like. You can read about the advantages and disadvantages of these cuts in our blog “ Know Your Leather Grains.”Īfter the preparatory phases are complete, your leather’s going to end up very stiff and inflexible, not like the supple stuff you’re used to feeling. This stage also determines how the leather is to be cut, whether full grain, top grain, genuine or otherwise. It occurs after the preparatory phases, which include soaking the leather, cutting out all the fats, hairs and oils, temporarily preserving the hide from decay, washing, bleaching, pickling to lower pH levels, and additional modifications to ensure you are not going to end up with a glob of icky stuff by the end of the process. Tanning is a step in the process of making your leather. vegetable leather tanning.įor those of us that are not leather experts and know-it-alls, allow me to set the stage. Topic of the day: chrome leather tanning vs. In this case, I’m talking quite literally. Get ready for a riveting showdown that will test the limits of your leather down to the very fibers of its being. I won’t sugarcoat things – this is a sensitive topic, and for that matter, a sensational one. It’s a controversy that has erupted over a tradition sacred since the days of ancient Egypt, Greece, and the Roman Empire. Hello, everybody! Today we’re going to dive into a feud of titanic proportion.
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