Leather Tanning History

When you think of leather, you probably think about leather seats in your car or the living room sofa. Maybe you thought turn to your closet and your favorite leather jacket, boots, or purse? But you probably never imagined using recycled leather in your bathroom, or any other part of your home. Leather is a popular, natural, organic textile derived from living animals that has been used for various applications for centuries. In the United States, leather is mainly processed from the skins and hides of animals such as cows, lambs, and pigs. Leather can also be obtained from reptiles, birds, and fish. Leather is one of the most durable, versatile textiles on the market today that is loved by many for its natural appearance and its always trending
There are various skins and hides provided by the different animals. They can differ in size, thickness, grain, and color. It is also possible that the animal had received a scar during its lifetime that can play a role in the uniqueness of the different skins. Whether it was the animal getting into a fight with another animal, a disease that the animal was stricken with, or whether insects attacked the animal, the scars left behind are permanent and cannot be removed. The process of leather tanning has been around for centuries. Tanning has played an important role in this world since the time of the Indians. The Indians used tanned leather for clothing, shelter, a source of income for buy and trade, and for paintings. Tanning is the chemical process in which skins and hides are treated with an agent to make them resistant to water and rotting. There are many different methods of tanning including vegetable tanning, oil tanning, chrome tanning, and alum tanning. These methods differ in expense and sustainability. Before the skins are ready to sell as leather products, they must go through multiple processes such as salting, removing the animal hair, removing the epidermis layer, cleaning, tanning, bleaching, stuffing, coloring or dyeing, staking, glazing, boarding, buffing, and embossing. The processes of buffing and stuffing are put into place in order to make the animals scars and skin
Since leather is considered a high-end, luxurious textile used in the interior design industry, they are always trying to invent new and improved ways to incorporate this sought after textile in their designs. One of the most recent developments and innovative uses of leather is leather countertops. Typically, residential and commercial countertops are made out of hard materials such as stone, concrete, marble, or granite. With the new innovative use of leather, this provides a soft countertop that has never been seen in the interior design world to date. There have been many concerns with such a countertop by many clients in the early stages. Countertops are typically used in kitchen and bathroom type spaces. In spaces such as these, there are many considerations that must be met such as sharp objects used for cutting food in the kitchen, water splashing out of sinks in bathrooms and kitchens, and the high traffic that both of these spaces bring. The different types of stone countertops are susceptible to smudges, fingerprints, and watermarks if they are not cleaned regularly. Because of leather’s texture, these countertops wipe up beautifully, do not show fingerprints, and have a subtle sheen to them that is able to hide spills and crumbs. One of the only companies selling this innovative product is EcoDomo. Because of their innovative product design and