subject: Garment Leather And Upholstery Hides For Furniture Or Automotive Interiors [print this page] Quality leather upholstery hides are typically easy to care for and extremely durable. Overtime, leather can soften and improve. In addition, leather can last up to 40 years because it biodegrades very slowly.
Full-grain leather upholstery hides often are used to for furniture and shoes. They absorb less moisture from prolonged body contact and can maintain a breathable texture. Full-grain leather can come in semi-aniline or an aniline finish. As time passes, this kind of leather may produce a patina instead of wearing out.
Here are other less common kinds of leather:
- Vachetta leather is used to make the trimmings put on handbags and luggage. It is vulnerable to water stains and color fading from sunlight because it is left untreated.
- Deerskin can make a tough garment leather and is used for wallets, personal accessories, overcoats, jackets, expensive pants and dress outfits and martial arts tools like kendos.
- Nappa leather is typically used to produce personal leather items like wallets and toiletry bags. The interiors of luxury cars often come with Nappa leather seating since it has a supple texture.
- Lambskin is a soft leather and is frequently used in high-priced apparel, gloves and other personal accessories.
- Nubuck leather is top-grain type of cattle hide often used in making wallets and personal accessories. It is sanded on the outside to make a subtle nap of small fibers of protein that produce a velvety surface.
- Ostrich leather is used in a wide spectrum of products including automotive products, upholstery, footwear, accessories and clothing. A lot of major fashion houses use ostrich leather such as Gucci, Prada, Hermes and Louis Vuitton.
Many trucks and cars offer standard or optional leather seating. Depending on the cost of the vehicle, the type of leather used can range from inexpensive vinyl fake leather to a genuine Nappa leather to cover the interior seating and dashboard of a high-end car such as a BMW, Audi or a Mercedes-Benz. Since leather can take 25 to 40 years to decompose it may outlast the vehicle's exterior and engine.
It is common for garment leather to be worn in tough, outdoor jobs and lifestyles because of its high resistance to wind and abrasion. The former cowboy image that wore leather chaps for leg protection, transformed into a leather-helmeted pilot dressed in a leather jacket. When motorcycles became popular, riders began to wear leather pants or leather chaps to shield their lower body. Today, motorcycle riders often wear leather jackets to protect themselves from wind and road rash. In addition, a lot of heavy metal rock bands wear full leather outfits with leather gloves and boots as part of their normal attire for their performances.
How Leather Is Made
To produce quality leather that maintains a specific appearance or color, top-grain animal hides are tanned, processed and dyed. The tanning procedure involves salts being used to cure it and give the hide a stabilized form.
The dyeing process injects the hide with various colors of dyes. An alternative method of dyeing is called aniline dyeing. This is a high quality process that provides a color without masking the natural characteristics of the animal hide.
by: Jerry Carmakin
welcome to Insurances.net (https://www.insurances.net)
