Popular Types of Leather Hides Bovine and Cowīy far the most popular type of leather, bovine hides dominate the leather world with over 67 percent of the total annual hide production globally. Below you can see a cross-section of the layers. Leather hides consist of four parts: The Grain, The Grain-Corium Junction, The Corium, and the Flesh Side. The hides’ main purpose was to protect the internal organs of an animal from external elements through the use of various layers of fibers, collagen, and tissues. The hide provides the same protective qualities and characteristics as it did when it was a part of an animal. Typically, animal skins are removed as a part of the butchering process or after a successful animal hunt or harvest. The leather hide is the skin from an animal. Now that you know a little more about the layers of hides, let’s take a closer look at their uses. Other parts of the hide can also be used for various things like linings, suedes, and lower quality leather goods. The most desirable part of the hide is the top layer or top grain because of its durability. There are various ways to separate or “split” an animal hide. Typically animal hides will have four layers, the top grain which is the “finished” side of a leather hide, the grain and corium junction which is a blend of tight and loose fibers, the corium which is mostly collagen and the thickest part of the hide, and finally the flesh side which consists of muscle and fatty tissues. Our skin is made up of three layers, the epidermis or top layer gives us our skin tone, the dermis which consists of hair follicles and sweat glands, and the hypodermis which contains fat and blood vessels. Once removed from a harvested animal through butchering or hunting, the leather hides’ protective characteristics still remain.īy far the most popular type of leather, bovine hides dominate the leather world with over 67 percent of the total annual hide production globally.Īn animal’s skin, like your skin, protects the internal organs from exposure along with hair and fur. Let’s start with the question, what is leather? Well the short answer is that leather was once the skin of an animal and is imbued with protective collagen and fats to protect the animal from the elements. Now after being in the industry for some time, whenever I hear ‘leather’ my mind thinks of a million different uses but that knowledge was only attained through quite a bit of trial-and-error. Let’s explore.īefore I got into leatherworking when someone would say the word ‘leather,’ I would picture a nice smooth, soft and supple leather couch or maybe even a big, bearded guy in a leather biker jacket and chaps on a Harley. Learning the difference between the different types of hides can make your project go from great to amazing. Do you need the durability and thinness of a kidskin? What’s latigo? Is that really a sharkskin? Well that’s why I’m here. Walking into a leather store to get the supplies to finish that project you’ve been working on can be daunting. They are used to make a variety of goods, clothing, upholstery, and personal accessories. Leather hides come in a variety of colors, thicknesses, textures, and softnesses. They are treated to yield a material that is tough, durable, and strong. Leather hides are the processed skin of animals. Maybe this will help cut out some of the trial-and-error for you and give you some good insight on the various different types of leather hides. I thought it would be helpful to write this article detailing the different types of leather hides, some of the most common uses for them, and good places to find quality hides.
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