Mule Hide Belts

[Seminole1]

Does anyone happen to know where I could possibly find some belts made from "Mule Hide (Mule Leather)"? My father bought one some years ago and has wanted another one ever since. I believe he purchased his from Mexico (I've even looked there as well). It's become a quest of mine to find these belts as my father is having a rather serious (what's not) battle with cancer and I REALLY want to find this for him. ANY help would be MOST appreciated! Thanks.

[StevenSiegel]

Hi,

I hope that I don't get anyone upset about this, but there is no such thing as mule hide. Though mules are slaughtered, the hides are comingled with others such as horse. There is no such thing being produced. There are items produced which people call "mule hide" which are not from mules: There are 2 choices

1) Chrome/Vegetable Retanned Sides (rawstock is steers, not cows)

2) Splits which are chrome tanned and fat liquored, not colored (a typical example would be leather used for haying aprons)

If anyone is interested, I can give you the reason that a) noted above was/is commonly, but incorrectly referred to as mule hide. To me, it's an intersting story of leather trivia which shows how leather can be labeled /sold as something which it is not. I do not know the origin of the misnomer of calling #2 mulehide.

There are so many leathers which have acquired names which do not accurately represent from where they came for purposes of marketing, but eventually lead to public confusion and loss of value of certain leathers for everyone concerned. Challenge for fun. For a quick $5, (i'll put a fiver in the mail), what is genuine chamois? (Hint: It is not the product sold in auto stores as genuine chamois) (To be fair, see if you can find the answer in any book or publication, not on the internet.)

PS Can you post a picture of the old belt that you are trying to replace???

Regards,

Steven Siegel

siegel.leather@gmail.com

[DaveJohnson]

Looks like we been buying good old sheep, lamb, goat or even pig everytime we thought we were buying Chamois (Good news for the 100 Chamois left in the wild I guess)

Chamois leather

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search Chamois leather (pronounced /ˈʃæmi.lɛðər/), sometimes known as a 'shammy', is a type of porous, non-abrasive leather. In the 19th to the first half of the 20th centuries, it was very commonly used for gloves. It is commonly used as a drying material or polishing cloth on jewels or shoes, for example. It is also used to make leather jackets and small bags or pouches, it has medical uses in orthopedics, and can be used for filtering fuel. It is also used for sports grips for its excellent water absorption properties; field hockey and golf are the two largest users of chamois grips.

Contents

[hide]

• 1 Great Britain
• 2 United States
• 3 History
• 4 Properties
• 5 Uses
• 6 References

//

[edit] Great Britain

The British Standard BS 6715: 1991^[1] is widely considered to offer the correct definition of chamois leather. This defines chamois leather as:

• Leather made from the skin of the mountain sheep or chamois
• Leather made from the flesh split of sheepskin or lambskin, or from sheepskin or lambskin from which the grain (the top split) has been removed by frizing, and tanned by processes involving oxidation of marine oils in the skin, using either solely such oils (full oil chamois) or first an aldehyde and then such oils (combination chamois)

[edit] United States

In the USA the term chamois without any qualification is restricted to the flesh split of the sheep or lambskin tanned solely with oils. (US Federal Standard CS99-1970^[2]).

The term is often mistakenly used to refer to soft leathers made from the skin of other animals or to synthetic materials with a chamois-like hand-feel, but these are not considered 'genuine chamois'. Chamois leather is often counterfeited with goat or pig skin, the practice of which is a particular profession called by the French chamoiser.^[3]

[edit] History

The term chamois as used to refer to specially prepared leather originated in the 1800s, referring to the prepared skin of the European Antelope—commonly called the "chamois"—and exclusively used by the glovemaking industry of southwest France. It was discovered that when tanned in the local cod oil of nearby Biarritz, the result was a material of unprecedented absorbency. This leather was fashioned into soft white gloves designed for carriage footmen, who were responsible for the care and polishing of carriages. This industry usage later transferred to the chauffeurs of the "horseless carriages" invented in the early 1900s. The popularity of chamois leather greatly increased with the advent of mass-produced automobile windshields, which needed to be washed frequently for visibility purposes, but were inconvenient and time-consuming to dry through alternative means.^[4]

[edit] Properties

Genuine chamois leather has almost no abrasive properties, and can be used as a very absorbent drying material for any auto surface. This has made it a very popular product for car cleaning and drying throughout the world.

The stretchy pores of the skin, which are very close, allow it to be used in micro-filtration. Its water absorbency makes it good for other uses, such as in cycling shorts (although most modern cycling shorts now use synthetic "chamois" leather). It was also used in purifying mercury, which is done by passing it through the pores of the skin.^[3]

When soaked with clean gasoline, chamois will not allow water to pass through its surface fibers. This property is used to filter fuel that has been stored in drums (always prone to ingress of water) or from any other doubtful source. The technique is to provide a large-mouthed funnel with a wide outlet surface that supports a woven wire base, or metal plate with a grid of holes. The lower part of the funnel is tapered to fit the receptacle or tank-filler aperture.

A suitably-sized Chamois skin is soaked in clean fuel and placed over the grid in the funnel and brought up the sides, forming a bowl, to prevent any leakage past the skin. Fuel can then be pumped into the top of the funnel by the fuel dispenser and watched for signs of water accumulation. The process can be stopped to lift out the assembly from the tank and the trapped water removed so that the job can be continued. Like this Chamois leather is used as a fuel filter by boaters,^[5] auto detailers—and aircraft refuellers, particularly of a past age where aircraft were flown into very remote areas.

[edit] Uses

Small pieces of chamois leather are commonly used as blending tools by artists drawing with charcoal.^[6] The leather blends the charcoal more softly and cleanly than the artist's fingers, which can leave smudges.^[7] The charcoal can be washed from the leather using soap and water.

Chamois leather is popular today around professional film and video camera viewfinders, as it provides comfort and absorbs sweat from camera operators who spend a long time with their eye planted on the viewfinder.

[StevenSiegel]

Hi Dave,

Send me your address, I owe you a five spot. If you are not in the US, I can send the equivalent currency in Euros.

As a leather merchant for nearly 100 years, these types of things are incredibly frustrating. Most chamois is probably produced in China from sheep of origin in Kyrgystan, Uzbekestan,etc . The difference in the price of chamois produced from sheep of these regions and hair-sheep from the Alps is tremendous. If you were the guy selling "genuine chamois" made from the real McCoy (no longer possible, because this is an endangered species) or an animal skin with the same physical properties you could never compete against the "other guy" who is selling leather made from an animal skin which is a small fraction in cost from the other product????

Just my opinion.

Regards,

Steven Siegel

siegel.leather@gmail.com

[Seminole1]

Thank you, Steven, for that info., this is one of the reasons I was interested in joining this site, (to learn, learn, and learn some more). Sorry to say, I don't know what has happened to the belt I referred to in my original post. I do remember it however, it just seemed different from your "average" belt in that it was VERY soft and supple but yet VERY tough at the same time. That belt lasted for a very long time. My father purchased this belt in Mexico and I even asked all over the place on a couple of my trips there to no avail. I am wondering if it could have been horsehide? The only thing that bothers me about the possibility of this is that I was reading an article which stated that Mule Hide is a bit tougher than Horsehide. I am CERTAINLY open to any "words of wisdom" concerning this whole thing and am very appreciative of same as I love learning new things from people who like to share in their knowledge. Thanks

[StevenSiegel]

Thank you, Steven, for that info., this is one of the reasons I was interested in joining this site, (to learn, learn, and learn some more). Sorry to say, I don't know what has happened to the belt I referred to in my original post. I do remember it however, it just seemed different from your "average" belt in that it was VERY soft and supple but yet VERY tough at the same time. That belt lasted for a very long time. My father purchased this belt in Mexico and I even asked all over the place on a couple of my trips there to no avail. I am wondering if it could have been horsehide? The only thing that bothers me about the possibility of this is that I was reading an article which stated that Mule Hide is a bit tougher than Horsehide. I am CERTAINLY open to any "words of wisdom" concerning this whole thing and am very appreciative of same as I love learning new things from people who like to share in their knowledge. Thanks

Thank you. From your post, I am assuming the item is no longer around, so a picture could not be posted? Horse will last much longer than cowhide. Do you have any idea if it was chrome tanned or vegetable tanned??? I have seen and inspected 100's of millions of square feet of leather throughout the world. I never seen genuine mulehide. This industry does not have a good repository for standardization and classifications/descriptions I can help you with genuine horse, vegetable tanned in either "horse strips" (the trimmings around the shell) or the genuine shell cordovans.

Hope this is somewhat helpful. If I can assist in any other manner, please either post on the forum or contact me via email. (The forum would be preferred as the information would become public and available for everyone.)

Out of curiousity, can I ask for the source that claims Mule Hide is a bit tougher than Horsehide? (Unless it's from the BLC in England or the College in Northampton, personally, I would be questionable of its accuracy)

[Ferg]

Does anyone happen to know where I could possibly find some belts made from "Mule Hide (Mule Leather)"? My father bought one some years ago and has wanted another one ever since. I believe he purchased his from Mexico (I've even looked there as well). It's become a quest of mine to find these belts as my father is having a rather serious (what's not) battle with cancer and I REALLY want to find this for him. ANY help would be MOST appreciated! Thanks.

I know nothing of "Mule Hide" but I tend to agree completely with Steven. That said: I am using some "Horse Butts" From Steven that tool like butter and have a very tight grain. I used to use the shells for wallets etc. but they are too pricey these days for my

pocket. I have not dyed any of the Horse Hide I have as yet, I really hate to do that since it has so much character.

I am sure your Dad would be more than pleased with this leather. The Horse Butts are long enough to cut belts. Good cost factor also.

ferg