Shopping for furniture can be overwhelming, especially with all of the technical language used in the furniture industry. Familiarize yourself with these terms to gain knowledge that will help you make informed decisions about your leather purchases and create a pleasant shopping experience.
Aniline Leather: A leather dyed with pure aniline dyes rather than pigments. This transparent dye completely penetrates the hide with color, allowing the natural grain to show through while protecting the surface.
Antiquing: A method of aging the appearance of a hide by the application of a darker color over a lighter color, creating dramatic highlights.
Buffing: A mechanical process that reduces the appearance of surface blemishes from leather hides. Leather that is not buffed is called “full grain” because the natural grain retains its markings and characteristics.
Cowhide: The entire animal hide, which averages 40-50 square feet.
Embossing: Impressing a pattern onto the surface of the hide to create a motif or texture. A very even and uniform pattern is created, possibly to disguise natural defects or blemishes, or to create visually exciting designs.
Fat Wrinkle: Natural wrinkles in the leather grain that are a part of its unique beauty. These are only visible in top grain leathers.
Finishing: Any processing performed after the initial dyeing such as buffing, embossing, milling, spraying, waterproofing, waxing, etc.
Hand: A term that describes the leather’s softness and feel.
Natural Grain: Leather whose grain has not been altered in any way, so the natural appearance of the grain is apparent.
Protected: Leather whose surface is coated with pigment or other opaque solution for uniform color and cleanability. The natural marks on the hide cannot be seen.
Split: The under portion of a hide or skin that has been split into two or more thicknesses. Splits may be finished and embossed to simulate a full top grain, but are not as high quality. Splits are often used for suede.
Suede: Leather produced from the flesh split, exhibiting a velvet-like nap. Suede splits are not top grain leathers and do not have the same strength and integrity.
Top Grain: The top layer and highest quality part of the hide. When leather is split in processing, the top grain is the upper portion of the hide. Because of its strength and beauty, this supple layer is the standard of fine upholstery.