Most commercial leather is made from cattle hides due to cattles size and abundance in the world. The quality of that leather depends on many factors. Remember that leather, like wood, comes from a living organism, and thus exhibits a unique grain pattern. One of the best signs of a lower quality leather is the regularity of grain pattern, indicating machine or other man-made technique-induced grain pattern.
Through a process called "liming," the raw leather is swelled to be later split into layers. The leather is composed of two layers, the grain side, which had the oil glands and hair of the animal, and the flesh side, which is softer and less durable than the grain side. The grain layer is the cream of the crop. The highest quality leathers come from it. Through the processes of curing, tanning, coloring, fat-liquoring, drying and finishing, leather is prepared for commercial use. The tanning process, the most widely known aspect of leather preparation, involves adding tannic acids from plants or man-made chemicals to the leather to prevent it from decomposing and add suppleness and toughness. After this, the leathers are split into up to 4 layers. The top (grain layer) is the best quality leather, the second (deep buff layer) is suede, or re-tanned for inexepensive leather, the third (slab layer) is also used for inexpensive upholstered leather, the forth (split layer) is used for things like chamois clothes in the auto industry.
Durability, permeability to water to allow it to "breathe," tensile strength, and aesthetics are a few of the characteristics of top-grain leather. Only 10-15% of cattle hides are suitable enough to be considered top-grain quality. Characteristics of the animal, as well as how well performed the above preparing procedures were done determine this status. *
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* information copyright of Williamsville Products, Sales Training, Leather Care
RGJ Associates, Inc. Sudburry, MA. 1991
