FAQ
Caring for Leather
Leather furniture needs to be cleaned and maintained on a regular basis. The most common problem is the drying out of it's oils and water. The primary culprit is the sun. Also, heat and AC ducts can cause this as well. Thus it is recommended to try to keep leather furniture away from these elements.
Leather needs to be cleaned to prevent airborn dust and particles from building up on the surface. Once they build up they tend to clog its pores, and as the leather is flexed, they travel down into its fibers. The leather becomes hard, and is more prone to cracking and splitting. Thus the chances of your keys or a pet making permanent scratches is higher on uncleaned leather furniture. These contaminants need to be removed and conditioner should be applied after. Good leather cleaners are designed to pull out grime from deep within the fibers, as well as removed surface dirt.
When a spill occurs, blot up immediately but do not rub or wipe, this can make the problem worse. For fat-based spills, like butter, oil and grease, blot up as much as possible, you can also try corn starch or baking soda to take up more. Then, let the remaining material soak into the leather for at least 24 hours. Don't attempt to clean until that time has expired. You may have to clean several times to get remove all the material. The surface may appear dull and dry after these clean-ups. Follow all of this with leather conditioning. How is Commercial Leather for Furniture Made
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 patterns.
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 leather furniture is made 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 are done determine this status.
Leather Types and How to Determine Which is Which
Analine (A), Nubuck (N), Protected (P)
*ANALINE: Code A and also called NATURAL, PURE, NAKED, or UNPROTECTED.
These leathers are colored with transparent dye stuff. This means that you are able to see the actual surface grain and markings. It is as if you are looking through a colored lens. These leathers have very little or no protective treatments applied to them. The most common thing to do is to spray a kind of wax finish on the surface that gives short term water repellance. The actual way that the leather is made varies by tannery. Analine leathers can be broken down into two types:
Semi-aniline leather is top dyed and protected with "polyurethane-like" substance. They are desired because of easy clean up and this leather has a little more sun protection. Semi-analine leathers are sometimes "corrected" prior to the dying process. Texture is sometimes embossed, scratches or holesare filled. They can be rough or smooth but generally feel cooler in the winter and warmer in the summer due to their "sealed" characteristic. These leathers are the least expensive.
Full-analine leather is considered "naked" as it is not protected and will patina (slight hue that gives character) with age, giving you a bomber jacket or saddle-like characteristic. These leathers are buttery soft and are mostly desired because of their true natural look and their temperature changing abilities. Because they are not top-sealed, they are porous and they take on a warm feeling in the summer. These leathers are premium hides with no corrections. These leathers are the most expensive.
Ways to identify analine: For care and maintenance purposes we need to know if the surface has been brushed (has a texture like velvet) or not. This is the point at which people have difficulty distinguishing nubuck from analine. There are several ways you can identify an analine leather: 1. Lightly scratch the surface to see if it leaves a lighter color scratch mark. If it scratches to a lighter color, it could be analine. This is not the only test to do because some nubucks will do this also. 2. Wet your finger and lightly rub it into the leather to see if it darkens. It should darken lightly, but dry invisibly.
*PROTECTED: Code P also called FINSHED, SEMI-ANALINE, EVERYDAY, PIGMENTED, or PAINTED.
These leathers have combined the best aspects of a natural product (leather) and have utilized tannery technology to create a product that is more uniform in apperance and color (due to the application of pigments to the surface). Protected leathers then have a finish applied to the surface that makes leather furniture more resistant to the effects of heavy use. The pigments and finish applied to the leather do affect the softness somewhat. The more that is needed to be applied the less soft the leather is. Protected leathers are the most common leathers, and for most consumers, the most practical.
Ways to identify protected leather: 1. Lightly scratch the surface to see if it leaves a lighter color scratch mark. If it does not scratch to a lighter color (the color remains the same), then this is a protected leather. 2. The surface should have some sort of sheen to it. It is like looking at wood that has a lacquer finish compared to a wipe-on oil treatment.
*NUBUCK: Code N also called DISTRESSED, BOMBER or "SUEDE" (a misnomer).
Furniture made from this is actually made of analine leathers on which the surface has been brushed, and have created a texture similar to a velvet on leather. Many people confuse these with suede leather. Suede is the flesh side of a piece of leather (inside out) while nubuck is an effect that is applied to the grain side, making it incredibly soft. The brushing also makes the leather even more absorbent than analine leathers.
Ways to identify nubuck: 1. The surface should have a texture similar to velvet. You move your hand across the surface and, if it leaves shading traces similar to the effect when you vacuum a carpet in one direction and then in another, it is nubuck. 2. Wet your finger and rub it lightly on the surface. The surface will darken and also will dry to a slightly darker shade. 3. For waxed surfaces, rub an area of the leather with a sponge several times. This will remove the wax and let you see if the leather meets 1 or 2 above. Nubuck leathers can reflect the natural leather grain or have an endless variety of embossed patterns applied to them, and color vividly. This is why this type of leather is also very popular for the fashion industry.
How to Tell Quality Leather
An expensive piece of leather furniture piece does NOT necessarily mean high quality leather furniture. There are man-made techniques employed to give the appearance of leather grain, when in fact it comes from the flesh layers. On lower quality leather furniture, the grain patern can be embossed into it. Another technique used to artificially add grain pattern is done by rolling the grain onto itself. Real top grain leather is best characterized by its asymetrical patterns, like the natural markings of the neck and shoulders or barb-wire marks. These, although some may find unattractive, are signs of true top-grain leather. Other signs of lesser quality leathers are dye spray lines, which indicates a low quality pigment dye was used, roughness to the surface indicating dirt and dust were mistakenly introduced while drying, and splits or cracks in the material for obvious reasons.
You can check the quality of the leather furniture by using a magnifying glass to examine it. Many hills and cliffs are an indicator of embossment. Many small holes are an indicator of high grade leather. Synthetic leathers, although can appear strikingly similar to the real deal, have fabric backing, and most of these unfortunately do not share real leather's tensile strength. Some people are even able to smell the difference in leather quality.
Differences in Leather Finishes
- Polishes - Used for shoes and boots. Have waterproofing properties.
- Cleaners, Saddle Soap, Conditioners - for leather that is used a lot or takes abuse such as baseball mits, other sports balls, horse saddles.
- Cleaners and Conditioners - For furniture and clothing.
Remember that suede is NOT leather and has different care procedures and products.
