Teradee Report post Posted October 7, 2023 (edited) Hi everyone! I recently acquired a ton of leather samples and swatches...As always, it came with a story. Apparently the gentleman who had these passed away. His daughter said he was either a leather supplier, or leather buyer for Allen Edmonds (I live in SE WI down the road from their headquarters). His basement was full of boxes of this stuff. Here are my questions: I assume almost all of this stuff is chrome tanned, but I took tons of pics so if you have thoughts, let me know. Does anyone recognize the suppliers or tannery? Is the (what I assume is mold) easy to clean off and good as new?? Is this stuff easy to work with, and what would be some items you suggest making with this sort of leather? Anything else I should know about this type of thing? I think these things are really cool, and they'd be easy to practice on....but I also wanna make some cool stuff from it if I could! Also, I'd love info or history or stories about things like this. I assume these came from the 70s or 80s? a few pics below...and a link to many more here-----> Ok, enough for now but weigh in if you'd like! Edited October 7, 2023 by Teradee Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dwight Report post Posted October 7, 2023 I found something similar on Ebay a number of years ago . . . about 25 pieces . . . 12 inches by 30 inches . . . different thicknesses . . . colors . . . paid 50 bucks . . . and have used them for all kinds of stuff. One of these days . . . I may make myself a "coat of many colors" out of them . . . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tugadude Report post Posted October 8, 2023 What might look like mold might actually be a waxy bloom some leathers exhibit. Polish the surface with a clean, dry cloth and see what happens. Hard to tell from a photo, but I have had a few pieces of leather that were just in need of a good wipe down. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sheilajeanne Report post Posted October 8, 2023 (edited) There could be some veg tan mixed in with the chrome tan. I suspect the deer tan may be veg tanned. Or else they've just named it that due to the color...There's an simple way to tell: dampen the surface and try tooling/stamping it. If it will take a tool mark, it's veg tan! I had to do this once with a piece of mystery leather someone gifted me. Yup - wouldn't stamp, so chrome tanned. If leather is mouldy, you can tell by the smell usually. Edit: there's obviously some non-leather mixed in with that. Some of the pieces look to have a woven fabric backing. Could be either so-called bonded leather, or an imitation leather like Naugahyde. Edited October 8, 2023 by Sheilajeanne Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Teradee Report post Posted October 12, 2023 Yeah - I took pics of a few (less than 10) pieces of the “other stuff” in case it would help identify this stuff or act as a clue for what type of leather this may have been created for….:-) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tugadude Report post Posted October 12, 2023 39 minutes ago, Teradee said: Yeah - I took pics of a few (less than 10) pieces of the “other stuff” in case it would help identify this stuff or act as a clue for what type of leather this may have been created for….:-) They appear to be sample swatches, and a quick internet search leads me to believe the tannery is either defunct, or moved and changed names, etc. The pieces with bluish-gray in the middle are definitely chrome-tanned. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
