A beginner's lesson learned about leather

[Schick]

It seems I need to learn more about leather types before I make more leather purchases.

 

I made a rookie mistake. I assumed that chrome tanned leather is all real leather.  I realise too late, that I purchased a product that is chrome tanned, but likely embossed with poly urethane for a grainy look. Sadly PU will just come apart after a while. I don't blame Tandy, as I suppose I should be an educated shopper. So now I wasted the money, and need to buy real leather. Kind of angry about it, but I will take this as a valuable lesson learned.

I don't think I would mind a leather stamped (embossed?) with a nice texture for the stuff I want to create as long as it is not poly coated. Some finishes might look good for a watch strap.

For anyone interested, it is product 9832-25. I don't think the Tandy website is searchable by SKU number.

[nstarleather]

Hi Schick!

Please post the picture here.  I believe we already saw it:

z9297at9x28a1.jpg.webp

Everyone here will agree on the same the we said on Reddit.  Chrome Tan is real leather and that is real leather but it's a low quality leather called a PU split.  It's a cheap suede covered with Polyurethane.  It's obvious from the back of the leather that it's not faux or bonded as those would have much more uniform backs.   The fuzzy aspect assures me it's cheap suede covered in PU.

[Dwight]

Sometimes a lesson is actually a blessing in disguise . . . 

I bought some good leather from Weavers . . . and we had a good relationship until the last time.

Someone should have given the cow her hide back . . . I would have if I could have.

BUT . . . I hung on to it . . . knowing one day there would be a need that I could put that garbage to work in . . . and it would work very well when I found it.

Yep . . . had a special job come up where the leather just had to be leather . . . nothing fancy . . . no special requirements.  I did the job  . . .  it was a very good project as far as the build and final look was concerned . . . buyer was ecstatic . . . 

My lesson simply is Weaver will never get another dime of my money . . . and I used to really enjoy the drive to their shop . . . wandered thru the retail store . . . saw all the new gadgets . . . probably never again . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

[Simplejack1985]

Buy once cry once

[Schick]

58 minutes ago, nstarleather said:

Hi Schick!

Please post the picture here.  I believe we already saw it:

z9297at9x28a1.jpg.webp 219.37 kB · 1 download

Everyone here will agree on the same the we said on Reddit.  Chrome Tan is real leather and that is real leather but it's a low quality leather called a PU split.  It's a cheap suede covered with Polyurethane.  It's obvious from the back of the leather that it's not faux or bonded as those would have much more uniform backs.   The fuzzy aspect assures me it's cheap suede covered in PU.

I don't have a pic of the product, but it does look a awful lot like the product in the image you supplied. In fact the numbers are very similar, except the last digit being one number off. I may need to find others Canadian sellers, and not be entirely dependent on Tandy (kinda)Leather.

[nstarleather]

15 minutes ago, Schick said:

I don't have a pic of the product, but it does look a awful lot like the product in the image you supplied. In fact the numbers are very similar, except the last digit being one number off. I may need to find others Canadian sellers, and not be entirely dependent on Tandy (kinda)Leather.

So amazing to see two so similar posts…regardless it shows Tandy is selling some cheaper quality leather.

[bruce johnson]

If you bought either garment leather or upholstery leather expect a top finish. Get an airplane or go look at couches or new car seats. The leather is uniform in color and texture. Look at unfinished hides - some parts are grainy, some a smooth as a bowling lane. Different parts of a hide take dye differently and some areas on a dyed hide with have different textures . For the factory applications They need to utilize as much as they can and the uniform top finish lets them do that. That is only one factor. The underlying leather may be full grain, top grain, etc. and has the top layer still intact and theoretically stronger. Back leather may have a tight flesh and lower belly and flanks might be taggy so flesh may or may not mean much.. Its been mentioned above but it can also be a split that has been finished, the part planed away from the top grain to make a uniform thickness in that piece. The leftover split is finished and depending on tannage and hide location - might be OK, might be really loose and not very durable. Whether an grain intact leather or split is more appropriate all depends on the intended use of the leather and a cost point. 

Interestingly I had this conversation with an exotic leather supplier. Elephant hide is a nice leather and I have used quite a bit. There is the first generation leather that is top grain. The splits can have an embossed pattern applied and by most appearances appears to be top grain. It takes some trust in the supplier's experience to tell the difference between the top layer and a finished split. It may be still be sold as genuine elephant because it is, although the wear characteristics are going to be different. Same with any other finished leather. 

 

[chiefjason]

13 hours ago, Dwight said:

Sometimes a lesson is actually a blessing in disguise . . . 

I bought some good leather from Weavers . . . and we had a good relationship until the last time.

Someone should have given the cow her hide back . . . I would have if I could have.

BUT . . . I hung on to it . . . knowing one day there would be a need that I could put that garbage to work in . . . and it would work very well when I found it.

Yep . . . had a special job come up where the leather just had to be leather . . . nothing fancy . . . no special requirements.  I did the job  . . .  it was a very good project as far as the build and final look was concerned . . . buyer was ecstatic . . . 

My lesson simply is Weaver will never get another dime of my money . . . and I used to really enjoy the drive to their shop . . . wandered thru the retail store . . . saw all the new gadgets . . . probably never again . . . 

May God bless,

Dwight

 

Dwight, have you noticed veg tanned leather taking a serious down turn since Covid?  I've ordered from 3 top suppliers with a real mixed bag of success with my leather.  Stopped ordering from one well know place because the leather temper was way too soft.  Had some holsters that would not hold the molding through drying.  One pre dyed side so soft I can't make pancakes with it so I have to use it for other stuff.  Ordered from another and the temper is so hard it's nearly unworkable.  Now I'm on a third supplier and the leather seems more workable but the quality is lacking.  But I knew that upfront and took a chance on the cheaper grade being less stiff and more workable.  So far it seems to be.  Just having to work around more defects.  Been at this 12 years and this is the worst leather I've seen since when I was stuck buying cheap stuff a couple feet at a time.  

[nstarleather]

2 hours ago, chiefjason said:

 

Dwight, have you noticed veg tanned leather taking a serious down turn since Covid?  I've ordered from 3 top suppliers with a real mixed bag of success with my leather.  Stopped ordering from one well know place because the leather temper was way too soft.  Had some holsters that would not hold the molding through drying.  One pre dyed side so soft I can't make pancakes with it so I have to use it for other stuff.  Ordered from another and the temper is so hard it's nearly unworkable.  Now I'm on a third supplier and the leather seems more workable but the quality is lacking.  But I knew that upfront and took a chance on the cheaper grade being less stiff and more workable.  So far it seems to be.  Just having to work around more defects.  Been at this 12 years and this is the worst leather I've seen since when I was stuck buying cheap stuff a couple feet at a time.  

I've seen some quality drop in general...I think it's a combo of less workforce, supply chain issues and because of those to factors you get less quality "because they can"...I have an order in with one of the bigger USA tanneries for 5000 feet of one of their "Flagship leathers" and they've delivered 1500 feet since April 2020...they did have another 700 this year but I said to wait till they had more to ship.  But, what am I gonna do?  Nobody else makes it (one of those that people buy for the "name" as much as for the leather)...so I just wait patiently.  

So, they are really in the power position and if all the tanneries are working at full capacity (with huge waits), they can deliver lesser quality without worrying about complaints about quality or lead time.  

[chiefjason]

10 hours ago, nstarleather said:

I've seen some quality drop in general...I think it's a combo of less workforce, supply chain issues and because of those to factors you get less quality "because they can"...I have an order in with one of the bigger USA tanneries for 5000 feet of one of their "Flagship leathers" and they've delivered 1500 feet since April 2020...they did have another 700 this year but I said to wait till they had more to ship.  But, what am I gonna do?  Nobody else makes it (one of those that people buy for the "name" as much as for the leather)...so I just wait patiently.  

So, they are really in the power position and if all the tanneries are working at full capacity (with huge waits), they can deliver lesser quality without worrying about complaints about quality or lead time.  

 

I talked to 2 of the CS folks with one tannery and one large distributor.  

The tannery lost most of their employees during Covid.  Or at least a serious percentage.  That's a lot of institutional memory and experience that is just gone.  That's when I also really started noticing the quality dropping.  And I've talked the the my rep about the change in temper in their leather.  I just got a side of a different leather from them but have not used it yet.  

The distributor flat out told me that one of the tanneries no longer sells them their top quality leather.  One of the biggest retailers in the country and one of the biggest tanneries won't sell them their top grade leather.  Crazy.  

That same tannery produced the leather I got from a different distributor that was so hard I could barely mold it.  And that was their tannery run grade which is all that company carries.  

It would probably be easier to just throw the names in there but there's a chance all 3 places are getting screwed in this process as well with employees losses and supply issues.  It's a mess.