There is Nothing Like Leather!

Leather is a product of Nature. Take a piece of leather and observe the way the fibers are knit together.

It is Nature's work. It is so wonderful that man cannot hope to reproduce it. He cannot even recreate it. Boil a piece of hide or skin. It will turn into gelatine.  No power known to man can turn that gelatine back into leather.

Shred it. No machine can reweave the fibers into their former wonderful fabric.

Take all the chemicals which go to make up a piece of leather, and mix them in all the ways that can be imagined and man cannot make a single inch of leather.

Leather truly is a one-of-a-kind material. It’s both strong and soft; it can breathe as well as insulate, it can stretch, but will not tear. With such diverse characteristics as these, it’s no wonder so many products are made from leather. Leather making can be traced back to the earliest dawn of history – back to ancient Rome, the Hebrews, and even Adam and Eve. Today, we see leather everywhere – in shoes, jackets, gloves, furniture, bags –  you name it, it’s available in leather. As leather continues to grow in popularity, it will be available on more products and in more styles.

This is possible because leather is a uniquely versatile fabric. The functional, physical properties of leather are, for the most part universal, regardless of origin (cow, steer, goat, deer, pig, etc.). Leather offers the benefits of high tensile and tear strength, elongation, flexibility, puncture resistance, capacity to absorb and transmit moisture, breathing and insulating qualities and lasting molding abilities. For as long as leather has been around and used, there should be no mystery to it. But many don’t realize or understand the amazing properties leather possesses, so here is a brief overview.

The tensile strength of leather or greatest longitudinal stress a substance can bear without tearing aport is very high. Leather’s unique physical structure is responsible for this. Nature created millions or coil-like molecules into tiny fibrous strands, twisting the strands together into bundles of fibers, and finally interweaving the fiber bundles about themselves in a three-dimensional manner. An untold number of interactions within the substance are a result of this intricate fiber network and results in a very high tensile strength.

Leather’s ability to withstand tearing forces, or tear strength, is probably the one property most taken for granted, and it gives leather products exceptionally long life. The interwoven and locked fibers of leather form a random, three dimensional design. Because they are not oriented in any fixed directional pattern, there is no easy path for a tear to follow.

Elongation refers to a substance’s ability to lengthen, or stretch, when stress is applied to it and represents the maximum extent a material can stretch without breaking. Leather is seldom stretched to its maximum capacity allowing future stretching to occur if necessary. This is one reason why leather finds its way into so many different types of products.

Leather also has natural properties of flexibility, which again originate from leather’s unique matrix of fibers. This flexibility is maintained without failure through numerous flexings, temperature fluctuations, and moisture ranges. Leather boots, clothing and dogsled harnesses used in the Arctic are prime examples of leather’s performance under extreme conditions.

The irregular fiber pattern of leather also allows for incredible puncture resistance. Manufacturing a material that is both flexible and tough to puncture is quite difficult, but leather is a naturally both. Leather’s puncture resistance is especially evident when sewing – it’s not easy to push a needle through leather.

The capacity to absorb and transmit moisture is another natural property of leather. It will absorb liquids, wick away water from damp material and pick up moisture from the humid air. Shoe manufacturers take advantage of leather’s ability to absorb moisture. They often dampen upper leathers before molding because when the water content increases in leather, strength and elongation value also increases.

Leather has excellent breathing and insulating properties throughout all seasons. In warm seasons, leather allows skin moisture to evaporate through its pores. In cold seasons a comfortable temperature is maintained within the leather garment as the porosity acts as an insulation. The dense fiber structure of leather also provides a windproof feature unique to flexible, lightweight fabrics.

Another important characteristic of leather, especially in shoemaking, is its lasting molding ability – leather can maintain a new shape and retain the valuable properties already mentioned. This Truly is an incredible "feet".

Let The Hide House be YOUR 
source for this miraculous product.

Process Flow Sheet

Wet Operations
1.    Receiving and Storage of Raw Hides
2.    Soaking
3.    Unhairing
4.    Bating
5.    Pickling
6.    Tanning
7.    Wringing and Sorting
8.    Trimming and Siding
9.    Splitting and Shaving
10.    Retanning, Coloring, Fat Liquoring
11.    Setting Out

Dry Operations
12.    Drying
13.    Conditioning
14.    Staking
15.    Buffing
16.    Finishing
17.    Plating
18.    Grading
19.    Measuring

Analine Finish    Full grain leather which has been colored with dyestuffs rather than pigments. Usually topped with a protein, resin, or lacquer protective coating; can also be waxed.

Bark Tanned    See Vegetable Tanned

Boarded    A grain effect produced by folding a skin grain against grain and mechanically rolling the two surfaces back and forth against each other.

Buffed    Leather which has been smoothed or sueded by mechanical sanding.

Chrome Tanned    Leathers which have been tanned with soluble chromium salts, primarily basic chromium sulfate. Currently the most widely used tannage in the U.S.A.

Combination Tanned    Leathers tanned with more than one tanning agent. For example, initially chrome-tanned followed by a second tannage (called Retan) with vegetable materials.

Embossed    A mechanical process of permanently imprinting a great variety of unique grain effects into the leather surface. Done under considerable heat and pressure.

Full Grain    Grain leather in which only the hair has been removed. Usually carries either an analine or glazed finish.

Glazed Finish    Similar to an analine finish except that the leather surface is polished to a high lustre by the action of glass or steel rollers under tremendous pressure.

Grain Leather    Hides and skins which have been processed with the grain, or outer surface, dressed for end use.

Imitation    A variety of materials which have been made to resemble genuine leather. The great bulk of these are rubber or plastic coated fabrics. It is unlawful to use terms connoting leather to describe imitations.

Leather    The pelt of an animal which has been transformed by tanning into a non-putrescible, useful material.

Mineral Tanned    Leathers which have been tanned by any of several mineral substances, notably the salts of chromium, aluminum, and zirconium.

Oil Tanned    Leathers tanned with certain fish oils. Produces a very soft, pliable leather such as chamois.

Pigment Finish    A process of coloring and coating the leather surface with colored pigments dispersed in film-forming chemicals called binders. The latter can be tailor-made to produce surfaces that are hightly resistant to wear, fading, etc.

Retan    See Combination Tanned

Side Leather    Cattlehide grain leather which, prior to processing, has been cut in half forming two "sides". Purpose is to reduce the size to better accommodate tannery equipment. Represents the largest volume of commercial leather currently produced.

Snuffed    Grain leather which, in addition to hair removal, has had the outer surface removed by light buffing.

Split    The underneath layer of side leather which has been "split" off. Devoid of a natural grain, it may be either sueded or pigment finished and embossed.

Suede    Leathers that are finished by buffing the flesh side (opposite the grain side) to produce a nap. The term refers to the napping process, and is unrelated to the type of skin used.

Synthetic    See Imitation

Top Grain    See Full Grain

Vegetable Tanned    Leathers which have been tanned with vegetable materials that are derived from certain plants and woods, often called Bark tannins.

Bag, Case, & Strap    Cattlehide leather used to make travel bags and suitcases. Does not include Handbag leather.

Belt    Leather from which waist belts are made. Not to be confused with Belting leather.

Belting    Heavy cattlehide leather used to make belts for the transfer of power in machinery.

Bookbinding    Used for covering books, picture frames, etc.

Case    See Bag, Case, & Strap

Chamois    The product of oil tanning the underneath layer (called a "flesher") that has been split from a sheepskin.

Diploma    Usually vegetable tanned sheepskin used in making diplomas.

Glove    Sheep, pig, deer, and kidskin that has been tanned to produce a soft, stretchy leather for dress gloves. Also, cattlehide splits, sheepskin, and others that are tanned for garden and work gloves.

Handbag    Any of a variety of leathers used for women's handbags.

Harness    Vegetable tanned cattlehide leather finished for harness and saddlery use.

Hat    Vegetable tanned calf or sheepskin leather used for hat sweatbands.

Insole    A shoe leather used for the inner sole which the foot rests upon. Usually form cattlehide.

Lining    A shoe leather used for the inside portions. Made from all kinds of hides and skins, either grain or suede finished.

Novelty    Any of a variety of leathers, frequently vegetable tanned, used for billfold  and small leather goods.

Outsole    A shoe leather used for the outer soles. From vegetable tanned cattlehide, often quite thick.

Patent    A shoe leather, heavily finished to give a highly lustrous, baked-enamel type appearance, used for shoe uppers. Generally from cattlehide.

Shoe    General term including all upper, lining, and sole leathers.

Slipper    Cowhide and sheepskin leathers, usually chrome tanned, used for slipper uppers.

Sole    See Insole and Outsole

Strap    See Bag, Case, & Strap

Sweatband    See Hat

Upholstery    Large cattlehide, split thin, and tanned for use as furniture and automobile set coverings.

Upper    A shoe leather used for the upper portions. Predominantly from cattlehide and calfskins, although a great variety of skins are used. Usually combination tanned.

We offer UPS, USPS, FedEx-Regular Rate, DHL International and a number of Freight Trucking Companies for Large Orders needing to be palletized.

We generally ship in stock orders within 24 hrs of order placement.

"TR" means Tannery Run, which is a mixture of grade #1 and #2.

Leather, being "Natures Product" is subject to holes, blemishes and scarring.   Ordering our List 1 will assure you of the best selection available for that type of leather.   Our List 2 is usually a good mix of Grade 1 and Grade 2.   The economy or List 3 is subject to having brands or cosmetic defects, although these hides have good cutting.   *See sales rep for large order price break!*

Returns of uncut leather are accepted within 30 days of Invoice date and must include a copy of the original Invoice with your return.  A restocking fee of 15% will be applied.  We are not responsible for return freight costs and all returns must be sent to the Physical Address of location purchased from:

Our warehouse is open between the hours of 8:00am and 4:30pm, Monday thru Friday.   We are closed for lunch between 12:00pm and 1:00pm.   We also will open on Saturday by appointment only so give us a call.

Yes, of course!    We welcome all customers.   You will be charged at our Retail price.

With regards to leather, it is one hide of anything.   Please note: We do not cut hides to order.

There is Nothing Like Leather!

Leather is a product of Nature. Take a piece of leather and observe the way the fibers are knit together.

It is Nature's work. It is so wonderful that man cannot hope to reproduce it. He cannot even recreate it. Boil a piece of hide or skin. It will turn into gelatine.  No power known to man can turn that gelatine back into leather.

Shred it. No machine can reweave the fibers into their former wonderful fabric.

Take all the chemicals which go to make up a piece of leather, and mix them in all the ways that can be imagined and man cannot make a single inch of leather.

Leather truly is a one-of-a-kind material. It’s both strong and soft; it can breathe as well as insulate, it can stretch, but will not tear. With such diverse characteristics as these, it’s no wonder so many products are made from leather. Leather making can be traced back to the earliest dawn of history – back to ancient Rome, the Hebrews, and even Adam and Eve. Today, we see leather everywhere – in shoes, jackets, gloves, furniture, bags –  you name it, it’s available in leather. As leather continues to grow in popularity, it will be available on more products and in more styles.

This is possible because leather is a uniquely versatile fabric. The functional, physical properties of leather are, for the most part universal, regardless of origin (cow, steer, goat, deer, pig, etc.). Leather offers the benefits of high tensile and tear strength, elongation, flexibility, puncture resistance, capacity to absorb and transmit moisture, breathing and insulating qualities and lasting molding abilities. For as long as leather has been around and used, there should be no mystery to it. But many don’t realize or understand the amazing properties leather possesses, so here is a brief overview.

The tensile strength of leather or greatest longitudinal stress a substance can bear without tearing aport is very high. Leather’s unique physical structure is responsible for this. Nature created millions or coil-like molecules into tiny fibrous strands, twisting the strands together into bundles of fibers, and finally interweaving the fiber bundles about themselves in a three-dimensional manner. An untold number of interactions within the substance are a result of this intricate fiber network and results in a very high tensile strength.

Leather’s ability to withstand tearing forces, or tear strength, is probably the one property most taken for granted, and it gives leather products exceptionally long life. The interwoven and locked fibers of leather form a random, three dimensional design. Because they are not oriented in any fixed directional pattern, there is no easy path for a tear to follow.

Elongation refers to a substance’s ability to lengthen, or stretch, when stress is applied to it and represents the maximum extent a material can stretch without breaking. Leather is seldom stretched to its maximum capacity allowing future stretching to occur if necessary. This is one reason why leather finds its way into so many different types of products.

Leather also has natural properties of flexibility, which again originate from leather’s unique matrix of fibers. This flexibility is maintained without failure through numerous flexings, temperature fluctuations, and moisture ranges. Leather boots, clothing and dogsled harnesses used in the Arctic are prime examples of leather’s performance under extreme conditions.

The irregular fiber pattern of leather also allows for incredible puncture resistance. Manufacturing a material that is both flexible and tough to puncture is quite difficult, but leather is a naturally both. Leather’s puncture resistance is especially evident when sewing – it’s not easy to push a needle through leather.

The capacity to absorb and transmit moisture is another natural property of leather. It will absorb liquids, wick away water from damp material and pick up moisture from the humid air. Shoe manufacturers take advantage of leather’s ability to absorb moisture. They often dampen upper leathers before molding because when the water content increases in leather, strength and elongation value also increases.

Leather has excellent breathing and insulating properties throughout all seasons. In warm seasons, leather allows skin moisture to evaporate through its pores. In cold seasons a comfortable temperature is maintained within the leather garment as the porosity acts as an insulation. The dense fiber structure of leather also provides a windproof feature unique to flexible, lightweight fabrics.

Another important characteristic of leather, especially in shoemaking, is its lasting molding ability – leather can maintain a new shape and retain the valuable properties already mentioned. This Truly is an incredible "feet".

Let The Hide House be YOUR 
source for this miraculous product.

Process Flow Sheet

Wet Operations
1.    Receiving and Storage of Raw Hides
2.    Soaking
3.    Unhairing
4.    Bating
5.    Pickling
6.    Tanning
7.    Wringing and Sorting
8.    Trimming and Siding
9.    Splitting and Shaving
10.    Retanning, Coloring, Fat Liquoring
11.    Setting Out

Dry Operations
12.    Drying
13.    Conditioning
14.    Staking
15.    Buffing
16.    Finishing
17.    Plating
18.    Grading
19.    Measuring

Analine Finish    Full grain leather which has been colored with dyestuffs rather than pigments. Usually topped with a protein, resin, or lacquer protective coating; can also be waxed.

Bark Tanned    See Vegetable Tanned

Boarded    A grain effect produced by folding a skin grain against grain and mechanically rolling the two surfaces back and forth against each other.

Buffed    Leather which has been smoothed or sueded by mechanical sanding.

Chrome Tanned    Leathers which have been tanned with soluble chromium salts, primarily basic chromium sulfate. Currently the most widely used tannage in the U.S.A.

Combination Tanned    Leathers tanned with more than one tanning agent. For example, initially chrome-tanned followed by a second tannage (called Retan) with vegetable materials.

Embossed    A mechanical process of permanently imprinting a great variety of unique grain effects into the leather surface. Done under considerable heat and pressure.

Full Grain    Grain leather in which only the hair has been removed. Usually carries either an analine or glazed finish.

Glazed Finish    Similar to an analine finish except that the leather surface is polished to a high lustre by the action of glass or steel rollers under tremendous pressure.

Grain Leather    Hides and skins which have been processed with the grain, or outer surface, dressed for end use.

Imitation    A variety of materials which have been made to resemble genuine leather. The great bulk of these are rubber or plastic coated fabrics. It is unlawful to use terms connoting leather to describe imitations.

Leather    The pelt of an animal which has been transformed by tanning into a non-putrescible, useful material.

Mineral Tanned    Leathers which have been tanned by any of several mineral substances, notably the salts of chromium, aluminum, and zirconium.

Oil Tanned    Leathers tanned with certain fish oils. Produces a very soft, pliable leather such as chamois.

Pigment Finish    A process of coloring and coating the leather surface with colored pigments dispersed in film-forming chemicals called binders. The latter can be tailor-made to produce surfaces that are hightly resistant to wear, fading, etc.

Retan    See Combination Tanned

Side Leather    Cattlehide grain leather which, prior to processing, has been cut in half forming two "sides". Purpose is to reduce the size to better accommodate tannery equipment. Represents the largest volume of commercial leather currently produced.

Snuffed    Grain leather which, in addition to hair removal, has had the outer surface removed by light buffing.

Split    The underneath layer of side leather which has been "split" off. Devoid of a natural grain, it may be either sueded or pigment finished and embossed.

Suede    Leathers that are finished by buffing the flesh side (opposite the grain side) to produce a nap. The term refers to the napping process, and is unrelated to the type of skin used.

Synthetic    See Imitation

Top Grain    See Full Grain

Vegetable Tanned    Leathers which have been tanned with vegetable materials that are derived from certain plants and woods, often called Bark tannins.

Bag, Case, & Strap    Cattlehide leather used to make travel bags and suitcases. Does not include Handbag leather.

Belt    Leather from which waist belts are made. Not to be confused with Belting leather.

Belting    Heavy cattlehide leather used to make belts for the transfer of power in machinery.

Bookbinding    Used for covering books, picture frames, etc.

Case    See Bag, Case, & Strap

Chamois    The product of oil tanning the underneath layer (called a "flesher") that has been split from a sheepskin.

Diploma    Usually vegetable tanned sheepskin used in making diplomas.

Glove    Sheep, pig, deer, and kidskin that has been tanned to produce a soft, stretchy leather for dress gloves. Also, cattlehide splits, sheepskin, and others that are tanned for garden and work gloves.

Handbag    Any of a variety of leathers used for women's handbags.

Harness    Vegetable tanned cattlehide leather finished for harness and saddlery use.

Hat    Vegetable tanned calf or sheepskin leather used for hat sweatbands.

Insole    A shoe leather used for the inner sole which the foot rests upon. Usually form cattlehide.

Lining    A shoe leather used for the inside portions. Made from all kinds of hides and skins, either grain or suede finished.

Novelty    Any of a variety of leathers, frequently vegetable tanned, used for billfold  and small leather goods.

Outsole    A shoe leather used for the outer soles. From vegetable tanned cattlehide, often quite thick.

Patent    A shoe leather, heavily finished to give a highly lustrous, baked-enamel type appearance, used for shoe uppers. Generally from cattlehide.

Shoe    General term including all upper, lining, and sole leathers.

Slipper    Cowhide and sheepskin leathers, usually chrome tanned, used for slipper uppers.

Sole    See Insole and Outsole

Strap    See Bag, Case, & Strap

Sweatband    See Hat

Upholstery    Large cattlehide, split thin, and tanned for use as furniture and automobile set coverings.

Upper    A shoe leather used for the upper portions. Predominantly from cattlehide and calfskins, although a great variety of skins are used. Usually combination tanned.