Leather Quality

Aniline Leather:

Aniline Leather is the most natural looking leather with the unique surface characteristics of the hide remaining visible. Aniline leather is colored only with dye and not with a surface coating of polymer and pigment . A light surface coating may be applied to enhance its appearance and offer slight protection against spillages and soiling.

Dyes, unlike pigments, stain the leather rather than covering it, so that any imperfections present in the skin will show through. Aniline, suede and nubuck leather are dyed, and receive no pigmented coating, while semi-aniline leather receives only a lightly pigmented coating, so the leather used for these products generally needs to be less marked by scratches and other marks.

British Standard (BS2780) Definitions: Aniline leather
Leather that has been dyed by immersion in a dyebath and has not received any coating of pigmented finish.

Semi-Aniline Leather

Semi-aniline leather is more durable than aniline whilst still retaining a natural appearance. The increased durability is provided by the application of a light surface coating which contains a small amount of pigment. This ensures consistent colour and imparts some stain resistance.

British Standard (BS2780) Definitions:
Semi-aniline leather
Leather in which the base coat of the finish contains pigment but later coats contain only dye or a contrasting pigment, to give a two-tone appearance, designed to imitate analine leather.

Pigmented Leather

Pigmented Leather is the most durable and is used in the majority of furniture upholstery and almost all car upholstery. The durability is provided by a polymer surface coating which contains pigments.

The surface coating allows the manufacturer more control over the properties of the leather, e.g. resistance to scuffing or fading.

The thickness of the surface coating can vary but if the mean thickness is more than 0.15mm then the product can't be sold as leather in the United Kingdom due to consumer protection legislation.

An opaque colouring which is mixed with a polymer to produce a coloured surface coating. Dyeing leather is like staining wood while applying a pigmented coating is like painting it.

Pigmented coatings have a covering power which helps to conceal the imperfections present in the grain surface of most skins.

- Full grain pigmented leather
The grain surface is left intact before applying the surface coating.

- Corrected grain pigmented leather 
The grain surface is abraded to remove imperfections before the surface coating is applied. A decorative grain pattern is then embossed into the surface.

Corrected grain pigmented leather has a thin layer sanded off the grain surface before the pigment coating is applied.

Because this process removes surface blemishes, a lower grade of hide can be used, making corrected grain slightly cheaper than full grain pigmented leather, although the two are indistinguishable to the naked eye and the sanding process may increase durability by improving the bonding between the surface coating and the leather.

Because it also removes the natural grain pattern an artificial grain is embossed onto the surface coating, although full grain pigmented leather is often embossed too.

British Standard (BS2780) Definitions:
Corrected grain leather
Leather from which the grain layer has been partially removed by buffing to a depth governed by the condition of the raw material and upon which a new surface has been built by various finishes.

-Finished split leather 
The middle or lower section of a hide with a polymer coating applied and embossed to mimic grain leather. Finished splits should only be used in low stress applications because they are weaker than grain leather.

Hides are split through their thickness to produce a layer with a grain surface and a layer without a grain surface, the latter being known as a split. If the hide is very thick it may be split more than once to produce a grain split, a middle split and flesh split.

Splits can be turned into suede or made to look like grain leather by applying a polymer coating to one side and embossing it with a grain pattern, in which case the resulting leather is known as a finished split.

Finished splits do not have the same strength as grain leathers and should therefore not be used in areas subjected to stress. For example, in the case of furniture, they should not be used in areas such as arm rests and seating, but may be used in less critical areas.

British Standard (BS2780) Definitions:
Finished split
A split leather that has been finished by the application of a surface coating to simulate the appearance of a grain leather.

-Antique grain (two-tone or rub-off)
A special surface effect has been created to mimic the unique 'worn' appearance of traditional leathers. This is achieved by applying a contrasting top-coat which is applied unevenly or partially rubbed off to reveal a paler underlying colour.

British Standard (BS2780) Definitions:
Pigmented leather
Leather to whose grain surface a finish containing fine pigment particles in a binder has been applied.

Pull-up leather (also known as waxy or oily pull-up)
A leather with a natural appearance which lightens in colour when stretched during wear to produce a unique worn-in effect with time.

British Standard (BS2780) Definitions:
Waxy leather
(1) Upper leather finished on the flesh side and dyed. It is vegetable tanned with a high content of hard grease, though not necessarily wax.
(2) Leather bearing a wax finished.

Nubuck
Aniline dyed leather which has been lightly abraded on the grain surface to create a velvety finish or nap. In some cases the grain pattern is still visible. The nap is very fine because of the tight fibre structure in the grain layer.

British Standard (BS2780) Definitions:
Nubuck
Cattle-hide leather buffed on the grain side to give a very fine velvety surface : white or coloured.

Suede
A split which has been abraded to create a distinctive nap. The nap can vary in appearance but is not as fine as the nap on nubuck because of the looser fibre structure.

British Standard (BS2780) Definitions:
Suede
Leather whose wearing surface has been finished to produce a velvet-like nap.