Here are the best tips to go prepared to the leather store and be able to make a successful purchase in which the leather we buy is the best for our needs and we can make our artistic pieces with the best original leather material.
What is leather?
Leather is a natural material, when we talk about leather we are talking about the skin of the animal that undergoes a treatment and then is worked by the artisans, this tells us that it will have irregularities and will not be perfect, it may come with tears that the animal suffered in its life and this will not indicate that the leather is of poor quality, on the contrary, it will be telling us which is a genuine material from beef or any animal source from which the leather is being sought, therefore its size depends on the animal from which it comes.
What things to take into account when buying leather?
As they are irregular and do not have straight edges, they cannot be measured like other fabrics, they are measured and sold by the foot. square feet (equivalent to about 30 cm2)Square feet are calculated by measuring the width x length and dividing it by 144.
The most used skins are of bovine origin, measuring approximately 90” x 36”, that is, about 22.5 feet. Lamb, pork or exotic animals such as snake, ostrich, have smaller skins.
Before buying leather it is better to know the exact size of the pieces you need for your project and thus see which leather fits best with your measurements, we must also take into account the textureof the leather that we need, its hardness, flexibility, softness, therefore, it is important to take into account all these variables, because there are leathers of bovine origin that will not provide us with the quality that we can get to provide the leather of a sheep for the designs we want, since this leather is more elegant and because it is from this animal its cost is higher.
In Curtidos Menacho our items include a reference image with the approximate width and length measurements of the skin , so if you are looking for an ideal leather for your projects you are in the right place, here you will find a wide variety of leather designs, colors and sizes that will fit your needs.
What requirements should genuine leather have?
Under these conditions, we must know that the leather must meet a series of requirements so that it offers the user the quality it has. really:
- It has a lot tear resistance, this thanks to its strong and resistant material.
- It has a very high shrinkage rate when dry cleaning.
- It is attributed a high shrinkage temperature.
- It has a very high resistance to abrasion.
- It is very solid against dry detergents, which allows proper preservation of the items.
- It is water resistant, and its material resists high temperatures, an original leather of animal origin can be differentiated thanks to its softness to the touch, characteristic leather smell, tears in the skin that indicate it is leather of animal origin and its texture.
Anyway, these steps are key to distinguishing an excellent leather compared to others that are just imitations that thanks to technology today Nowadays they are passed off very well as an original leather item until it is put to the test and turns out to be a very low quality synthetic leather item.
