Be with high quality leather shoes everyday but have you ever wondered about the material that makes up a pair of leather shoes? Why do they possess high durability, softness, and a fashionable look? You have ever heard of "leather" but do not know about it? Let me talk to you basic information about the high-quality type of material.

What is leather?

Leather is a type of durable and flexible material created through the process of tanning from animal skins such as cow, buffalo, goat, sheep, deer, crocodile, ostrich. Leather is generated by differrnt methods, from individual scale to industrial scale, from large to small, from rudimentary to sophisticated. The use of animal skin as a material in apparel and footwear industry has been popular since ancient times. However, until recent years, leather has become more popular. Humans create a variety of leather products including clothing, hats, purses, belts, badges, book covers, parchments and home furnishings. Leather is also the main material that footwear manufacturers use to make high quality leather shoes.

Stages of tanning

First stage is a preparation making the raw animal skin become clean, soften and permeable. In this step, the the chemical will be used to turn the raw skin into a leather for making fahion items and others. Firstly, animal skin is carefully scraped off of the fibers and fats, and is carefully classified according to skin type and quality. Then the skin is soaked to shake off the dirt. Next, a kind of lime is used to remove hairs and some of the protein, fibers in the skin and alter the structure of the skin to penetrate better the chemicals that will be used in the next stage.

Depending on the place of production, chemicals or natural extracts will be used to make the skin soft, durable, waterproof, and keep the skin from rotting over time. Next, the skin is dried, oiled, kneaded, flat rolled, and dyed as demanded. The place of production will decide the quality, longevity and flexibility of the leather. The skin after dyeing and dying will have different colors. Thus, tanning technology can treat all types of animal skin to be soft, durable and supple. Through the process of chemical treatment, the raw skin becomes the leather.

Some common types of leather

Cowhide is the most common type of leather on the market. Cowhide is soft, lightweight, used mainly for making high quality shoes and purses, luxury handbags. Goat leather is very smooth. Horse leather is generally used for making shoes, jackets and sports clothing. Pig leather is obtained from mature pigs. Kangaroo leather - the most durable type of leather - used to make shoes and baseball bats. Crocodile leather is used for shoes, bags, purses and suitcases.

Tanning methods

Chromium tanning: This method was invented in 1858, using Cr2(SO4)3 and 12(H2O) and other chromium salts. This method makes the skin softer, more flexible, and does not lose its color or its form as plant-based methods. This method produces blue products due to chromium and also produces many other colors. This tanning method is currently the most popular methods because it takes only about a day to complete.

There are other tanning methods such as plant-based tanning, using formaldehyde, ...

Due to the complexity of the tanning process and the lack of machines, there is no tanneries in Vietnam. Leather-making factories mainly import leather for shoe making.