Frequently Asked Questions Before Buying Leather Products

Do you love buying leather products? Looking for a quick buying guide before investing in precious leather goods? You have arrived at the right destination. Leather is the soul of the fashion industry, and it is never out of trend. Popular wearables or accessories such as leather jackets, men’s leather wallets, leather backpacks, purses, or leather laptop bags are trendy in the mainstream.

These products are the epitome of simplicity and enhance their grace with time. So, before you spend your hard-earned money purchasing beautiful leather items, you should ask the following set of questions and find out if it meets your expectations or fashion style.

What Should you Know Before Purchasing your Leather Goods?

1. Type of Leather

Want to know about different grades of leather? There are assorted kinds of leathers available, and each has its unique characteristics, usage, and appearance that reflects the quality. Let’s check out five prominent types of leather:

• Full-grain Leather
• Top-grain Leather
• Genuine Leather
• Split-grain Leather (Suede)
• Bonded Leather

Among these, full-grain leather is contemplated as the supreme one due to its impressive traits like durability, texture, and also it ages gracefully with time.

2. Leather Animal Hide

From leather jackets to assorted leather accessories, leather is ubiquitous and makes our lifestyle more stylish and glamorous. Have you wondered where we get this natural and ageless material?

Genuine leather is a natural skin fiber, and a range of animal hides used to make precious leather products. Some of the most common animal hides come from cattle, including cows, goats, buffaloes, pigs, and more. Whereas snakes, squirrels, alligators, seals, kangaroos, and more are the source of exotic leather.

3. Leather Origin

Leather is a precious fabric and has engraved an affluent impression on human civilization since the millennium. But do you know the origin of leather?

As per factual evidence, leather was first invented in England at the time of the stone age. Homo sapiens used razor-sharp stone tools to scrape animal hides. In addition, the historical traces of usage of leather can be witnessed across the globe, including Italy, France, the United States, and Germany.

4. Faux Leather vs. Real Leather

It is the most crucial aspect of leather to know the distinction between genuine and fake leather. Do you know how to spot the difference between real leather and faux leather?

Genuine leather is highly desirable and is quite expensive for its durability and grace. It is a natural fiber and has pores, scars, event patterns, and some coarse surfaces. While faux leather is made of synthetic wax and dye that creates a plastic-like material with attractive color and uniform texture, it is substantially cheap and less durable.

5. Quality & Durability

Do you know what makes leather extraordinary and timeless? The answer is its durability and long-lasting exquisiteness. Talking about this natural fabric, leather products are labeled among the most durable and reliable ones.

Whether you buy a leather briefcase, leather apron, or leather backpack, it offers a great deal of flexibility, supreme quality, and trustworthiness. Leather ages beautifully with time making it one of the most valuable materials. Notably, the quality and traits depend on various factors such as the type of leather, tanning process, stitching quality, and associated components.

6. Leather Tanning

Real leather comes from animal hide or skin, and in its original form, it is raw, harsh, shaggy, exotic and full of natural pores and scars. Have you heard about the tanning process?

Tanning is the comprehensive process of converting raw animal hides into refined leather that reflects elegance, aesthetic touch, shimmering and polished texture. The five stages of tanning include:

• Pre-tanning
• Tanning
• Selecting
• Dressing
• Finishing

The tanning process determines the quality of the leather, i.e., finished leather or semi-finished leather.

7. Finished & Unfinished Leather

Leather comes in various forms having distinct features and specialties. I reckon you must have heard about finished and unfinished leather. But do you know the difference between them? Let’s comprehend it.

Unfinished leather is more like natural and raw leather without adding any surface treatment. It is absorbent, full of natural pores & scars, and more vulnerable to degradation. In contrast, finished leather is coated with a protective layer and leather dye that safeguards the material from degradation and provides a glossy texture that amplifies its aesthetic appearance.

8. Leather Thickness & Flexibility

Leather temper or thickness is a critical aspect and has immense value in preserving its structure, offering incredible durability maintaining strength and stability. However, thick leather, to some extent, lacks flexibility and softness due to its stiff composition.

Flexibility is also a vital facet of leather products providing the comfort of softness and ductility. It is suitable mainly for leather bags for men and women. However, sometimes due to extreme cold, flexible leather can become rigid.

9. Leather Smell

How does leather smell? Is it good or bad? Such concerns are prevalent. Most of the time, leather smells odd or, in some cases, unpleasant due to chemicals. Poor or nasty odors are signs of cheap leather bags or accessories.

Moreover, one can discover a wide range of aromas that depends on multiple factors, including tanning method, synthetic or organic leather dye, quality & type of leathers, and more.

10. Branded Leather Products

Numerous leather goods stores offer leather jackets,  handbags, wallets, purses, belts, men’s leather duffle bags, and more. But do you know why branded or handmade leather products are so valuable?

People invest in precious and elegant branded leather products for the following aspects:

• Impressive quality and highly desirable
• Long-lasting and ages gracefully with time
• Fashionable products as per the trend
• Genuine leather that meets our fashion style and comfort level

11. Leather Feel & Color

The aesthetic touch of your leather handbags or leather jackets gives a surreal feeling. But can you spot the difference between real and fake leather by touching the surface?

The surface of genuine leather is natural and even has pores, scars, organic wrinkles, uneven patterns. On the contrary, fake leather’s surface is too perfect with uniform patterns, no scratch or apertures, shining and extra coated layer to enhance softness. As a result, its surface feels like plastic.

The trendy and stylish leather products come in a broad spectrum of distinct colors depending on the animal hides and the essential tanning. However, black and brown are considered the most classic colors.

Unmatched Genuine Leather Products by Handicraft Villa

Leather is an exquisite material and ranks among the most desirable elements in the fashion industry. So if you are looking to decorate your closet with beautiful and resourceful handmade leather items that define your fashion style, Handicraft Villa is a perfect choice. It is the leading and known for its incredible collection of genuine leather apparel and accessories to enhance your personality. Its well-crafted and exquisite assortments include leather jacket men’s, leather jacket women, men’s leather wallet, leather purse, men’s leather messenger bag, men’s leather duffle bag, and more to fine-tune our fashion style.

Importantly, leather items are an excellent investment providing a great deal of comfort and companionship for an extended period. So, when buying genuine leather, make sure you are well-versed with the types and skills to recognize original leather. Also, get a comprehensive idea of how to clean leather items to maintain their finesse and durability.