What is genuine leather

Full grain leather also allows the natural marbling, texture and variety of color in the hide to come through fully. Corrected grain leather is usually more altered than top grain leather.

It could just be sanded, but it is often buffed or embossed or resurfaced in some way. Why would anyone do this? You can take a cheap hide with lots of flaws and resurface it to make it appear uniform. Genuine leather is the catchall term for anything that is technically leather. Over the years, this definition has gotten so stretched that it is almost meaningless for consumers. The opposite is often the case. But think about that.

What is leather? It means cowhide, right? Awhile back, the definition of genuine leather was changed to include other animal hides. As mentioned above, full-grain leather and top-grain leather are of higher quality than genuine leather. Contrary to popular belief, genuine leather products do not look or feel as pleasing as high-quality leather. They are also not as durable as high-quality leather products. Most of us can afford genuine leather products since they are widely available and not highly expensive.

Genuine leather is actually made from leftover leather after the manufacture of high-end products. Pure leather or real leather is a durable material created by tanning animal rawhide and skin while genuine leather is a low-quality grade of leather.

The label pure leather indicates that the product is made from real leather while the label genuine leather indicates that the product is made of a low-quality grade of leather. But it can also be used with great success for dress belts, briefcases, dress shoes, work boots, and numerous other leather goods.

This type of leather is naturally marked with imperfections from the animal, like a brand or a scar, but products from pricier companies won't use these flawed hides. Full-grain is hard-as-nails leather that will develop a rich patina as it ages, looking more and more beautiful as you use it.

It's widely recognized as the best and highest-quality leather money can buy. Often much more expensive, full-grain pays dividends with its durability.

If you invest in an item made with full-grain leather, you will probably have that item for the rest of your life if you take care of it properly. If you can you should avoid leathers like bonded leather scraps of leather glued together to form one piece , patent leather leather treated with a glossy plastic finish , and corrected grain leather lower quality leather printed with a fake grain.

For you. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Get the Insider App. It's made from what is left over when the other, higher grades are stripped away for pricier projects. This grade of leather is acceptable if you're just buying something cheaply and don't care too much about its quality. It won't last very long, so you probably shouldn't buy something made from it that you would use every day.

Top-grain leather is the grade of leather you'll find in "fine" leather goods and can be considered the middle-of-the-road quality of leather. It's used in the vast majority of purses for women, as well as small leather goods for men, like wallets that are sold by well-known designer brands. It's made by splitting a piece of full-grain leather and sanding away any imperfections in the hide and stamping a fake grain on it.

Usually, it's then treated and colored to provide a completely uniform look. The finished product ends up being a bit plastic-like, and not nearly as durable as the best quality leather — full-grain. It will not age well with use, and will end up looking old and worn after a time. This finish of leather is great, however, if you don't care as much about durability and more about the color of your leather item, or its resistance to stain, as it has been heavily treated. Full-grain leather takes the entire grai n of hide, with all the imperfections and inherent toughness of the material.