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Learn what leather is? Characteristics, types of leather and uses you should know
Mar
Leather is one of the most commonly used materials today, also known as an expensive and high-quality material. In the article below, Roostershirt will help you better understand what Leather is, its most popular features and applications today.
What is leather?
Leather, also known as tanned leather, is a material created through the process of processing the skin of animals such as cows, buffaloes, goats, deer, crocodiles, ostriches… Currently this material is used quite a lot. Common in many fields of life such as fashion, furniture, household appliances, handicrafts or other manufacturing industries.
This is a high-quality, luxurious material, also divided into many different lines, normally there are goat, cow, sheep, pig skins… And high-end ones are crocodile, deer, deer…
Characteristics of Leather material
Advantage
- Leather is a durable material, with an extremely long lifespan, you can use it for many years without fear of losing its shape or color, fading… Even if you know how to use and maintain it, you should use it even more. It will be even more beautiful when used.
- Because it is leather, it has good water resistance and quick air release so it does not retain body odor, bringing a comfortable feeling to the user when using it.
- Fabric has the ability to keep warm extremely well, can regulate internal body temperature while still maintaining comfort.
- Leather is extremely luxurious, high-class and it shows the personality and values of the person using it. Often people who want to show their class will use leather items.
Defect
- If you have decided to use leather products, you need to preserve them very carefully. It has its own rules that you must follow otherwise it will easily crack, break, shrink or even have an unpleasant odor.
- Because the leather production process must use some additional chemicals, it can cause skin allergies and harm the environment.
- The price of this material is also very high, it has a clear differentiation, if it is real leather it is extremely expensive, and if it is fake leather, depending on the type, the price is high or low.
Some popular types of Leather today
Full Grain Leather
This is original leather, still retaining the top layer of skin with natural wrinkles and lines. This is the most durable material, often used to make high-end products such as shoes, handbags, and wallets. The characteristics of Full Grain are that the more you use it, the more beautiful it becomes, and when well preserved, it is extremely durable.
Top Grain Leather
Because of the rough grinding process, the leather surface has a fairly uniform smoothness, often covered with additional colors to make it more eye-catching. People use it to make products such as coats, sofas, furniture… the price is also quite affordable.
Bonded leather
A material made from small pieces of crushed leather and then mixed with glue to form sheets. The fabric surface will be embossed to hide defects. The price is cheap, so it is often used to make products such as wallets, belts and utensils at affordable prices.
Genuine leather
Although it is not 100% real leather, it still contains a small amount of real leather, so it is still classified as tanned leather.
Suede leather
The lower layer of leather is sanded to create softness and the leather surface has a velvety layer. Often used to make products such as coats, shoes, wallets, handbags, belts and some other accessories.
Nubuck leather
The fabric is smooth with a velvet layer on top that can be seen with the naked eye. This material is quite easy to attract dust and is often used to make clothes, shoes and bags.
Synthetic leather
A type of handmade leather, it is produced with the desire to replace real leather to save costs and protect the environment. The biggest feature of this material is that it does not explode or peel.
Artificial Leather
This is a type of artificial leather that is quite commonly used. They have quite natural faux leather patterns, dyed in many eye-catching colors to bring more diverse products.
Patent leather
Also known as glossy leather, the surface is covered with a layer of plastic or linseed oil to create shine and increase durability when used. It is also used to make shoes, clothes, accessories, and furniture.
Faux leather
A cheap type of leather, not very durable, often used to sew low-cost products that will quickly deteriorate after being used for a period of time, not too suitable for the concept of sustainable fashion.
In addition, there are many other types of synthetic leather on the market to serve different needs.
How to recognize quality leather
To distinguish between real leather and fake leather, you can use some of the tips below!
Observe the surface of the skin: Real leather often has natural, uneven patterns, you can even see pores, wrinkles or scars. Fake leather usually looks very even and beautiful, even smooth, unlike regular leather.
Feel by hand: Genuine leather is usually soft, supple and very elastic. Fake leather is hard and does not bounce when pressed.
Check by smell: Genuine leather will have a characteristic leather smell and some will even smell animal odors but not too harsh and unpleasant. As for fake leather, it will often have a nylon smell or a common fashion clothing smell.
Test with water: Genuine leather will gradually absorb water and often create water stains. As for fake leather, it absorbs water very quickly and has no stains.
Besides, you can see that fake leather will be very cheap and have many different prices, will often have no origin or be produced with widespread designs.
Applications of leather materials
Leather is widely used in many different fields such as:
Fashion: Used to sew clothes such as leather jackets, leather pants, leather skirts or leather jumpsuits,… Combined with accessories also made from leather such as handbags, wallets, belts, backpacks, hats, gloves, shoes, boots, sandals. .. In addition, some accessories such as watches, bracelets, necklaces or earrings can also use leather as an accent.
Furniture: Make some luxurious and classy furniture such as sofas, beds, table and chair covers, carpets, paintings, handicrafts…
Accessories: Leather is one of the materials used in many accessories such as car covers, phone cases, handicrafts, products in production lines, medical tools, and daily necessities. day…
How to use and preserve durable and beautiful Leather
As some of the content in the article mentioned, leather, if you know how to preserve and care for it, will be extremely durable and increasingly beautiful. Below are some tips that you can refer to!
- Do not expose your skin to sunlight, high temperature or high humidity environments, or iron with hot irons.
- Avoid using chemicals such as gasoline, alcohol, acid, bleach, etc.
- Do not wash too much, can be cleaned simply with a soft, damp cloth, using specialized care products. You can even use skin cream to keep the product looking new.
- Do not wash with water, do not wash with normal methods. You can take it to a laundry shop and, if professional, handle it yourself according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- You should hang leather items with wooden or plastic hooks. You can use newspaper, desiccant bags, and wrapping to preserve if not used for a long time.
Some questions about Leather material
Is leather animal skin?
Leather is animal skin that is processed by mechanical and chemical methods to create a durable material that serves many different uses.
Is using Leather material inhumane?
Many people ask the question whether using leather fabric is inhumane or not? This depends on many factors. For example, real leather or artificial leather, and artificial leather certainly does not violate legal issues.
As for real leather, there are usually two cases: farming for leather and hunting. The act of hunting wild animals to make leather is truly inhumane and encourages people not to consume this product. In the livestock environment, people’s intention is still slaughter, so it is not considered a beautiful action.
However, should we ignore the issues related to using animal skin? Leather material is still a great choice for the fashion world or some other industries as it is very durable, waterproof, and has many creative designs.
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Above are the answers to the question What is Leather? Characteristics, applications and appropriate use and storage. Hopefully through this article you will learn more useful fashion knowledge. And don’t forget to follow Roostershirt.com to enjoy shopping and read many other interesting articles!