How do I make good Leather Shoelaces?

[CaballonUSA]

Hello everyone, this is my first post, Ill try to be as clear as possible).

Ive decided I want to make my own leather laces, I have my shoelaces side business and recently have had demand for leather laces.

Went to the local available leather shops, with the only knowledge that I had to buy veg tan leather, thats what I had been told.

Bought half a side one seller had laying around, it was what we locally call tannin color, a sort of brownish reddish color, and it was a hard leather, not very flexible but still rolable, about 3mm thick or 4/5oz. We call it vaqueta. Its normally used for tooling, and saddle making.

Then I started to cut, I used a basic leather cutter, the type that is just a handle and you can cut the lace with it from a circle. It came all good. Had no problems with it breaking, I was able to get around 14 ft of lace that was strong and didn't break. Repeated this until I ran out of leather.

So I went to another leather shop, with the same thing in mind, veg tan leather, here I was bombarded with options, both natural (whitish) color and the tannin color, both in different thicknesses and in two different tanned categories, Vaqueta, which was what I had bought before; and Sillero, a similar type in both tanning and colors to Vaqueta, but way softer and more maleable. Both came in similar thicknesses, and at the store they had used Sillero to make leather belt blanks. I went with same oz or width as last time, 3mm or 4/5oz but in natural color and the more plyable Sillero, as I thought it would be better for the intended purpose of lace cutting.

Here is where problems began,

• It cutted extremely easy, compared to my last leather (Vaqueta), this wasnt a problem but was noted.
• When I cutted the lace, and went through it and stretched it it broke, like in a lot of places, where as before I got one continous lace of 14 ft length, now it was breaking randomly... Sometimes more, sometimes less...
• Not only when stretching but also when cutting, itd sometimes just snap

This is very frustrating, as to try and avoit at all costs buying 2 more leather hides and one not being usefull for me what do you recommend? Is there any added strength by the colored tannin type? Or maybe I should go with the harder Vaqueta? Ive read some manufacturers use milk cows for their laces, but tbh I had a hard time explaining to staff at these stores that there are different types of cows. I also soaked some lace on neats foot oil and let it rest for the night, could that help?

 

Thanks anyone that read my post and I hope someone can help me out, and sorry if its a bit confusing, Ill do my best to answer any questions. Thank you again.

[Handstitched]

G'Day,

Not sure if this is of any help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcXPbWrySZQ

HS   

[sbrownn]

If I were making leather laces I would cut them from either latigo or bridle leather.

[MikeRock]

Either chrome tanned or alum tanned are best lace materials...  We used to sell both for hiking/work/climbing boots.  Of course, nylon or synthetics outsold leather for durability and strength. 

God bless

[CaballonUSA]

4 hours ago, Handstitched said:

G'Day,

Not sure if this is of any help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcXPbWrySZQ

HS   

Thanks friend, appreciate it.

1 hour ago, sbrownn said:

If I were making leather laces I would cut them from either latigo or bridle leather.

Yeah, I could give some other leather a try, the problem would be cost

But thanks, Ill try.

[CaballonUSA]

49 minutes ago, MikeRock said:

Either chrome tanned or alum tanned are best lace materials...  We used to sell both for hiking/work/climbing boots.  Of course, nylon or synthetics outsold leather for durability and strength. 

God bless

Really? I thought vegtan would be best for strength. Ill have to look for an option in that thickness range. Thanks, and yeah I know synthetics are better for laces, I guess they are just for looks.

[tsunkasapa]

14 minutes ago, CaballonUSA said:

Really? I thought vegtan would be best for strength. Ill have to look for an option in that thickness range. Thanks, and yeah I know synthetics are better for laces, I guess they are just for looks.

Not sure where this myth got started, but veg tanned is not necessarily the stronger leather. As stated above, latigo or alum would be a much better choice.

[MikeRock]

Maybe that's why Latigo is used for saddle strings, rather than veg tan :))  Skirting is NOT strong stuff, compared to others. 

God bless

[Doc Reaper]

I tried Latigo leather shoelaces but they didn’t hold up 

[sbrownn]

5 hours ago, CaballonUSA said:

Thanks friend, appreciate it.

Yeah, I could give some other leather a try, the problem would be cost

But thanks, Ill try.

Good leather shoelaces are expensive but it's hard to believe it's due to the leather cost but maybe it is.  I've never bought any as I always thought they were overpriced.