Leather damage, i wish someone told me that before..

[NMendes]

Hi there! 

 

I'm new to Leather crafting and even if i've spent hours and days and weeks learning about the craft before starting my firsts project, i missed this tiny "costly" information..

 

I started a bag and while making my closing system yesterday i made a mistake that damaged the leather...

I taped the top of the bag to hold a piece, two tiny pieces of the varnished surface were torn off when I removed the adhesive tape, they measure about 4mmx2mm . 

What should i do? Maybe glue them back together? If yes, which glue would be suitable? Or maybe do you see a better solution?

 

Pictures of the damaged surface are attached to this message, i wish someone told me about "Never using tape on leather" before..

 

Thanks in advance and all the best!

 

Edited April 24, 2020 by NMendes

[NMendes]

The aesthetic aspect is of little concern to me, i am mostly worried about reinforcing the damaged surface to prevent it from widening, what would you do in my situation?

Thanks al!!

[HaloJones]

Maybe a clear varnish of same sort in the local area?

you could do a couple of tests on any scrap / cut off that you have 

Edited April 25, 2020 by HaloJones

[chiefjason]

Are we sure that's leather?  In 9 years or so I've seen leather do some funky things.  But I've never seen the grain come off of a full grain piece of leather.  Crack, split, break?  Yes.  I've only seen faux leather do what yours did.  Between that crackled surface and the grey underside, something is not adding up for me.  

[NMendes]

Thank you for your answers!

@HaloJones : I'm thinking of using natural conditionner like Coconut oil or Beeswax instead of gluing, i'll run some tests today and will let you know!

@ChiefJason : Oh yes it is genuine leather, and not a cheap one.. I bought it from a renown retailer here in Paris who sells "A" quality hides by "Tannerie Haas" (Hermès suppliers), it is a 2,5oz Calf skin and the damage is way less pronounced than what you see in the pictures..
Here is the bag i'm making so you can see how the leather really looks like (still a work in progress) ..

What do you think about my natural conditionner solution?

 

[BigSiouxSaddlery]

It looks like metallic finish leather to me, which from my experience, is the least durable, least permanent finish you can get.  I bought a side of silver metallic this winter for a pair of rodeo chaps, and the finish flaked off simply due to the stresses of the building process, no tape involved.  Turning and bending the leather to get it through the sewing machine left silver glitter everywhere.  While that is NOT normal, metallic is still not a very durable finish.  Exercise caution when incorporating it into any project.

[NMendes]

The finish is not metallic at all, here is a thread where they talk about the exact same problem :

https://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/threads/tape-damage.1803/

Quote : 

" This does bring up a very important subject, though. That subject is being careful with any type of adhesives around top grain leather. Depending on how the hide is finished, the top coat can peel off quite easily. I remember several years ago on one of the earlier versions of VLJ, a member mentioned going to a work/social function with his wife and they were issued adhesive name tags at the door.

The guy put on the tag without a second thought. A while later after leaving the function, the guy removed the nametag off of his A-2 jacket (a Real McCoys Dubow if I remember correctly). Unfortunately he immediately noticed that the outer color layer peeled off noticeably!

Leather jacket are tough articles of clothing, but that can be damaged with adhesives or sharp objects with surprising ease."

 

It seems like a common issue..

[LumpenDoodle2]

Try a little bit of pva glue, it might hold it while keeping it flexible.   Maybe a tiny bit modgepodge on top to help seal it.   

Just guessing from my limited experience of this type of leather, but I think that’s the approach I’d take first.

These surfaces can be difficult to manage when working with them.

[NMendes]

Thank you for your answer Lumpen!

Like some said, if the piece came off so easily, the leather is not durable at all.. 

So i'll buy a more sturdy leather hide (horse hide), it will coast me more but way less than using a weak piece..

Thank you again all for your advices!

[fredk]

On 4/25/2020 at 10:01 AM, chiefjason said:

Are we sure that's leather?  In 9 years or so I've seen leather do some funky things.  But I've never seen the grain come off of a full grain piece of leather.  Crack, split, break?  Yes.  I've only seen faux leather do what yours did.  Between that crackled surface and the grey underside, something is not adding up for me.  

In 30 years of working with leather (only 20 properly) I've only seen this on fabric backed PVC. The material was sold to us as 'real leather' and top ££ paid. A simple burn test proved it was PVC

as for a glue, I would use UHU or Bostick

[LumpenDoodle2]

3 minutes ago, fredk said:

In 30 years of working with leather (only 20 properly) I've only seen this on fabric backed PVC. The material was sold to us as 'real leather' and top ££ paid. A simple burn test proved it was PVC

as for a glue, I would use UHU or Bostick

I have to confess to owning a box of which the contents are of unknown material.    Most of which have only saw a cow as the van the box was in whizzed by a field of heifers.   Courtesy of a newbie (me) buying a box of “genuine leather scraps for small projects” (ebay).

 

 

[fredk]

30 years ago I was involved with a vehicle restoration company. They specialised in restoring old buses and trucks. One time we had to re-upholster all the seats in a 1934 bus. The customer insisted on leather coverings. As usual we farmed it out to a bus upholstery company. They showed us the 'leather' which had a pattern similar to the OP's. When we got the first seat back, the driver's seat, I noticed that the surface was cracking away, just like the OP's has done. The upholstery company insisted it was top quality leather. I put a ciggie lighter to a piece of their material, to a piece of PVC and to a piece of leather. That proved that their 'leather' was PVC.

[NMendes]

I just discovered the name of this type of leather : "Crinkled patent leather", like this one :

https://www.brixtonbaker.com/products/michael-michael-kors-emry-large-crinkled-leather-tote 

Is the issue common in this type of leather or is it my particular piece? Thank you all!

[LumpenDoodle2]

Any material that has a ‘surface’, applied will be iffy, and potentially unstable.   Whether that’s leather or pvc under it.   Or at least the stuff I have had is.   Someone may be along in a minute with better help.

[fredk]

41 minutes ago, NMendes said:

I just discovered the name of this type of leather : "Crinkled patent leather", like this one :

https://www.brixtonbaker.com/products/michael-michael-kors-emry-large-crinkled-leather-tote 

Is the issue common in this type of leather or is it my particular piece? Thank you all!

Unfortunately a lot of misleading terminology is now used to describe leathers. In the past 'patent' leather was top quality leather dyed, polished and lacquered to a very high shine, It was mainly used for top quality shoes. That was pre-1980s or so. In the more recent past to today, 'patent' leather is any leather sprayed with a resin finish ~ and that is what I believe you have.

Something I've said in the past and I'll briefly repeat; under the European rules, Leather is not what we on here expect it to be. Any material which has any amount of animal skin on it can be 'Leather'. Cheap 'leather' couches and chairs have a material with leather dust mixed with resins sprayed on it. We used to call this 'leather cloth'. Now it can be called 'genuine leather', 'real leather' and can be sold and priced as such.

[chrisash]

Agree with Fred its split leather, The top surface is cut off and then the remaining is painted with a mixture of ingredients to make any surface you require. Some are only suitable for items that the leather is not going to be flexible in use