Evaluate the quality of leather in a product

Many of the leather properties which make a difference in the performance of the product can not be evaluated at the point of purchase.

What was the quality of chemical treatment, what is the nature of raw material, what is the strength of the leather all this and some more have to be tested before leather is made into a product.

However, to answer many of the un-answered questions at the point of purchase, important for making the right decision, you can do a lot and here we show how what is to be done.

What you can assess is the comparative value of leather used in the product - was it of top grade or somewhere in the middle or from the rock bottom . You can also tell one type of leather from other and distinguish their value by knowing more about them.

And, if you are shopping at a bargain market (say in China) you may first want to know whether it is real leather or not..

As a common sense, approach you can examine the workmanship on the product and rate it

We have put together a few short easy steps to follow. If you find something you want is missing, as usual please drop a line!

Step -1

Find out whether it is made of natural leather or not.
Why important?

Step -2

Find out the relative value of the leather(s) used in the product
Why important?

Step -3

Find out the quantity and total value of leather used in the article.
Why important?

Step -4

Determine the quality of workmanship
Why important?

Step -5

Assess the quality of accessories used
Why important?

Step -6

And the final step
Why important?

Step - 1 Leather or Imitation

More often than not, only the top surface of the material is visible to us. Be it leather furniture or lined shoes and jackets, the back of the material, say leather, on top and a lining material are attached together and we see only the top surface of the leather.

To be frank it is not easy to tell apart genuine leather from a well made synthetic imitation, only by looking at the top surface.

You will have to answer this question only when shopping in a street market. Established brands and the goods in supermarkets will let you know what the product is made of and you can take their word.

If you really found a bargain priced leather bag in a street market and want to be sure, look all over the product and try to find a place where the stitch is a little loose so that you can lift the top layer and see the back side. You can easily tell the difference. The synthetic back will look uniform and like woven fabric, leather back will be fibery and wooly.

Another, less reliable indicator is the presence of natural marks such as blood vessels, some insect bites on the surface. If it is picture perfect all over without a blemish, it may, may be synthetic. It is not reliable because, some synthetics even imitate these marks on the surface. However, if you find branches of vein mark in an irregular pattern you can confidently say it is leather

Step - 2 How good the leather is?

Find out the degree of natural look of the leather surface.

Now you know what you are considering is a leather for sure. How can you compare different types of leathers and compare their value.

Most of what we are talking about here is about leathers from the widely used animal hides/skins. See types of leather for details

If the leather type you are considering is with its grain (markings left by the hair roots of the skin) on, you can identify different types of leathers by their characteristic grain pattern. Again, see here to know how to tell apart skins of different animals.

The general animal skins used are cow (including buffalo), goat (and kids), Sheep and Pig. Pig leathers are the cheapest. Sheep, goat and cow all are in striking distance to each other in terms of value depending on the product.

In leather upholstery, cow leathers rank the highest (sheep skins are not used) followed by goat and pig. In case of leather garments, sheep skins score high followed by cow, goat and pig.

Shoes from Kid skins (young goat) are at the same level as the best quality of cow leathers and some specialty sheep skins. Otherwise, cow is the preferred one followed by goat and pig.

Leather goods such as bags, wallets, belts etc will also follow the order of cow, sheep, goat and pig.

Ofcourse, if you are looking at some exotic animal skin or fish skin the value is way higher than any of the types mentioned above. Only make sure they are genuine. Our advice is refrain from buying them, unless you have serious money to spend!

After you give a rating for the animal type, you can start considering the quality of leather. The value is the combinatin of the quality of raw hide from which the leather is made and the amount and the skill level of processing

A hide with minimum defects before processing is more valuable. These hides/skins can be made into high quality natural looking beautiful leather types as it is not necessary to cover and hide the natural defects during processing.

More clearly you can see the grain pattern of the surface, better is the value of the raw material used for the leather, indicating less processed natural surface. See leather types for details.

The other type you might come across is Nubucks, Suedes or Splits All these have a velvet like surface ie if you rub your hand on the surface you can see dark and light patterns on different direction of rubbing. Superficial defects on the suface can be removed during the process if raising the nap to get the velvetty surface. Nubucks are the most valuable in these type of leathers and have very fine velvet (nap as it is called) pattern. Suedes come next, with longer and coarser velvet pattern. Splits are the inferior type with short (as opposed to fine) course fibres sticking out.

Step - 3 Quantity and Value of Leather

Larger the size of the individual patterns which are stitched together to make the article, higher is the value of leather. For an article of same size and type, less the number of patterns more is the value.

Consider each part of the product. Is the lining leather or only the upper is leather? What about the in sole, and the strip at the heel (called heel grip). More the amount of leather higher is the value.

Step - 4 Workmanship on the product

We love imperfections of nature, that is on the leather, but not the man made ones. Look at the quality of stitches. Are they straight? Is the number of stitches in one inch same all around. Is there any loose strings?

If it is shoe how the sole is attached? Is there any glue or adhesive streaks stikking out? You know them!!

Step - 5 Non-leather accessories

In this step we can not tell much except that check all the accessories such as zipper, buttons, rings and stripes carefully. If needed go to a website specializing in these stuff (just kidding!) and get a word of advice. All these add cost to the product and should be valued independent of the leather value

.

Step - 6 The Common Sense

Ask your mind. If it is a shoe try it on. If it is a jacket have a look at the mirror. Sit on the sofa. Feel the wallet in your pocket. Even when everything is alright and the value is great it is going to be only as good as the extent of your comfort in using them. Try them, reject any thing which falls short outright and reach out for the next choice!

Wish you happy Shopping!