The Accidental, or Maybe on Purpose, Process


At one point in time, man had discovered the tanning process otherwise known as preserving and/or softening leather to make it more pliable, last longer, change color or easier to work with.

Remember the 'heavy leather shirts' the soldiers wore into battle? Image them being pliable and easy to move about in. My nice leather couch with half a patina? If it were stiff and hard, it wouldn't be very enjoyable. I don't see how a cowboy can ride atop a hard, very hard seat all day, but at least its contoured and I've seen a leather crafter at work contour a piece of vegtan (leather tanned with natural extracts from plants, but mostly chemicals from Oak Bark) into a beautiful but stiff holster. I've seen him careful wet it down, but not too wet, and shape it around a blue gun (much like a dressmaker's form) and work it with his fingers into shape. I've seen the beautifully shaped finished product now ready for stitching and final touches.

Depending on the use, there are a variety of tanning methods. Some smell like fish and actual fish is used in this process. Most however, are tanned from chemicals that come from the bark of trees.

As far as dye and color, some is all the way through and some is painted on. Of course all the way through is a much better choice as it won't bleed onto things such as your hands and clothing.

Did you know that leather doesn't smell? It's the chemicals used that give it that "leather' smell we are so familiar with and the many types of smells we catch walking into various leather shops.