When researching the different types of leather, you may come across vegetable-tanned leather. It’s become a popular alternative to chrome-tanned leather. Vegetable-tanned leather is used to make everything from handbags and belts to jackets, vets and other leather garments. What is vegetable-tanned leather exactly? To learn more about this popular type of leather, including the benefits it offers, keep reading.
Overview of Vegetable-Tanned Leather
Vegetable-tanned leather is any type of leather that’s processed with vegetable-based tanning agents. All leather must be processed during production so that it doesn’t spoil. Known as tanning, it’s essentially what distinguishes hides from leather.
Animal skin hides must be tanned to become leather. Tanning involves bathing or otherwise exposing animal skin hides to preservative chemicals or compounds. As the animal skin hides soak up these chemicals or compounds, they turn into durable, long-lasting leather. Vegetable-tanned leather is characterized by the use of vegetable-based tanning agents.
How Vegetable-Tanned Leather Is Made
While there are different ways to make it, most vegetable-tanned leather is processed with tannins. Tannins are vegetable-based tanning agents. They occur naturally in many plants and trees. Tannins are bitter-tasting astringent compounds. They are used in a variety of applications, one of which is the production of leather.
Most vegetable-tanned leather is processed with tannins. During production, animal skin hides are submerged in a bath of tannins. They are left in this bath for several weeks or even months. When finished, the animal skin hides are removed from the tannin bath. Manufacturers will further dry out the animal hides, after which they will sell or use them as vegetable-tanned leather. Regardless, the term “vegetable-tanned leather” refers to real leather that’s been processed using vegetable-based tanning agents, typically tannins.
The tannins used in vegetable-tanned leather may come from the following types of trees:
- Oak
- Tanoak
- Hemlock
- Acacia
- Mangrove
- Chestnut
Tanning is necessary to create long-lasting leather. When not tanned, animal skin hides can spoil. They will degrade and deteriorate, in which case they’ll have to be disposed of. Tanning, though, will protect them from spoilage. There are different types of tanning processes, all of which can protect animal skin hides from spoilage while creating real leather. Vegetable is one such tanning process. Vegetable tanning is a type of tanning process that leverages vegetable-based tanning agents.
Benefits of Vegetable-Tanned Leather
Vegetable-tanned leather offers several benefits. For starters, you may notice that it has a milder, more earthy smell than that of other types of leather. Many people prefer vegetable-tanned leather over other types of leather because of its smell. It doesn’t have an artificial or chemical smell to it. Instead, vegetable-tanned leather has a naturally mild earthy smell to it.
In terms of eco-friendliness, vegetable-tanned leather comes out on top. It doesn’t involve the use of toxic or harsh chemicals. Vegetable-tanned leather is made using all-natural, vegetable-based tanning agents. And like all other types of real leather, vegetable-tanned leather is completely biodegradable.
Vegetable-tanned leather is highly resistant to bacteria. The tannins used in this process will bind to the collagen proteins. Animal skin hides have collagen proteins. These proteins contain high concentrations of moisture, making them a prime target for bacteria. Tannins, however, will bind to collagen proteins so that they become less water-soluble. The collagen proteins will hold less moisture, making them better protected against bacteria.
Vegetable-tanned leather has been around for quite some time. Long before other tanning methods were pioneered, in fact, leather was made exclusively via vegetable tanning. The origins of vegetable tanning can be traced back thousands of years. And since then, little has changed regarding the process. It still centers around the same vegetable-based tanning agents, and it’s still used for the same purpose of preserving and converting animal skin hides into leather.
You may discover that vegetable-tanned leather ages more gracefully than other types of leather. All types of leather will undergo changes in their appearance as they age. This is known as a patina. But vegetable-tanned leather achieves a more distinct and refined appearance over time than that of other types of leather. If you enjoy the soft, semi-faded appearance of aged leather, you may want to choose vegetable-tanned leather for this reason.
Vegetable-Tanned vs Chrome-Tanned Leather: What’s the Difference?
In addition to vegetable-tanned leather, there’s chrome-tanned leather. Both types of leather undergo tanning. They are exposed to preservative chemicals or compounds during production so that they don’t spoil. Vegetable-tanned and chrome-tanned leather, however, involve different tanning agents.
Vegetable-tanned leather is processed with vegetable-based tanning agents. Chrome-tanned leather, on the other hand, is processed with chromium. More specifically, chrome-tanned leather is processed with chromium salts. Chromium salts are used as the tanning agent. Animal skin hides are submerged in a bath of chromium salts. The chromium salts will eliminate moisture while simultaneously preserving the animal skin hides.
Chrome-tanned leather takes less time to produce than vegetable-tanned leather. The animal skin hides typically only need to soak in the chromium bath for a couple of weeks. Vegetable-tanned leather may have to soak in the tannin bath for several months.
Other Tanning Methods
Vegetable tanning and chrome tanning are two of the most popular tanning methods used to make leather. Aluminum tanning, for instance, is an alternative method. As the name suggests, it involves the use of aluminum. Aluminum-tanned leather is processed with aluminum salts. Iron is another alternative tanning method. Iron-tanned leather is processed with iron salts.
There’s even natural tanning. Natural tanning is arguably the most unique tanning method. Unlike all other tanning methods, it doesn’t involve the use of chemicals or compounds. Instead, natural tanning uses acidic water to preserve and convert animal skin hides into leather.
In Conclusion
Many garments and accessories are made of vegetable-tanned leather. Along with chrome-tanned leather, it’s one of the most popular types of leather. Vegetable-tanned leather is characterized by a tanning process that revolves around vegetable-based tanning agents.