Leather is one of nature's most versatile and sensual materials. It offers comfort and durability in a variety of beautiful finishes, textures and colors. At CLC, we know leather, its characteristics, its value, and the way it makes you look and feel good like any luxurious item should. Our remarkable leather accessories provide years of pleasure and long-lasting use. Through our experience we've learned the best methods for maintaining leather. We have also sourced products to help our customers with leather care and leather repair.

Check out our leather care products page to find conditioning products for your car, home (furniture / upholstery) and business.

The following information explains how leather is made and the best ways to keep your leather looking its best for years to come. Moreover, we have just added a large section at the bottom of this page, filled with different leather terms and their respective definitions, organized alphabetically. We want you to be an educated consumer when purchasing leather.

Cowhide:
If you're looking for durability, cowhide's got it covered. It's tough, interlocking structure helps maintain its look. It holds up under rugged conditions as well as regular, everyday wear. It's available in a plethora of weights and textures. And exudes a sensual softness and suppleness which is second to none! You'll also find cowhide accessories in a wide range of colors. But best of all, cowhide is easy to care for, resistant to water and dirt, and the perfect match for any active, fashion-setting lifestyle. Our pebble grain cowhide accessories are also water resistant!

Leather Protection and Care:

Use a high quality leather lotion on a soft cloth to moisturize your finished leather. Avoid using Leather Lotion on suede or buffed leather (leather that has a nap).

Avoid using cleaning fluid, shoe cream, saddle soap and mink oil. These products contain ingredients that may damage leather.

We recommend that you test any protection and cleaning products on a hidden area of the leather.

Don't keep heavy objects, such as paper weights, in your pockets. Doing so will stretch the leather.

Avoid applying hair sprays and perfumes while wearing leather.

Don't attach pins, adhesive badges or tape to leather.

Cleaning
Gently blot liquid stains with a clean cloth.

Winter salt stains your leather. If this salt accidentally gets onto your leather garment or product, wipe the affected area with a clean, damp cloth and dry naturally.

Visit a professional leather cleaner for more serious stains. Normal dry cleaning methods will remove essential oils, causing the leather to crack, fade and shrink. A cleaner who specializes in leather care will use a different method to clean and condition the leather. Even this special process may cause slight variations in color, texture, and shape; so it is important to clean matching garments together.

Care When Wet
If your leather becomes wet, allow it to dry at room temperature. (Never put leather in the dryer.) Then apply any quality Leather & Suede Protector. Buff suede with a soft towel to restore the nap.

If your garment has faux fur trim and the fur gets wet, dry it with a hair dryer set on the lowest temperature. Shake fur during the drying process, and periodically during wear to maintain loft and maximize appearance.

Leather is tear and puncture-resistant.

Some Leather Facts and Definitions

Leather protects from heat, cold and wind; and it repels moisture.

Leather items are available in a variety of weights and made with different linings for comfort in warm and cold weather.

Leather apparel stretches and molds to your body, yet at the same time retains its shape.

Leather breathes -- that's what keeps it soft and supple.

Leather is an agricultural by-product of the food industry. We purchase the hides and transform them into beautiful leather apparel and accessories.

ANILINE DYING

It is a process where the leather is dyed so that the original markings on the leather, such as grain, scars and fat wrinkles, can be seen. This is opposed to pigment dying, which is opaque (see definition of Pigment Dying below). In the aniline dying technique, it is not uncommon for more than one color of dye to be used to create some of the more beautiful finishes available in full grain leather. Most of the glazed leather goods offered by CLC have been dyed using this method.

ANILINE LEATHER

Aniline leather is leather in it's most natural and beautiful form. This superb leather is tanned using traditional methods and is free of the heavy pigments, plastic fillings, surface coats and imitation grains found in lesser leathers. Natural marks and scars are proudly exhibited and no attempt is made to conceal these hallmarks of genuine aniline leather. Aniline leather shows its natural origins in the form of healed scars and varying surface texture. These natural marks and variations distinguish true aniline leather from its imitators.

ANTIQUED

Common descriptive term for leather that shows signs of natural aging and wear that have been artificially created.

BELTING LEATHER

Tanned very slowly from the rear portion of high grade cattle hides, belting leather is vegetable tanned to produce a firm, very strong and dense leather. The tanning agents that are used come from barks, woods and other parts of plants and trees. Other than exotic leathers which are expensive because of availability, belting leather is the most expensive leather generally found in business cases and small leather goods. Usually the full thickness of the hide is tanned, resulting in a 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch thick finished piece of leather. The beauty of the hide's natural markings are always visible. Belting leather takes on a wonderful patina as the oils work their way to the surface. The natural belting leather, those left uncolored, are the most desirable and the most expensive.

COGNAC

The cognac color is a medium tan that ages beautifully with use. As the oils come to the surface, the leather takes on a beautiful patina.

CORRECTED GRAIN

A leather that is buffed to remove undesirable blemishes and embossed to simulate an attractive grain or to add decorative texture.

DRUM DYING

Drum dying is just that. The leather is placed in rotating drums of dye. The dye is absorbed into the leather while the leather is tumbled in the drums. For most business cases and personal leather goods use, this is the preferred method of dying. The dye penetrates the entire thickness of the hide. Therefore, even with years of use, the leather retains its color over the entire surface.

DYEING

It is the process of imparting color (or stain or tint) to the leather or fabric. Normally, dyeing is done by immersing the leather or fabric to be dyed into a coloring or dyeing solution, and tumbled for a number of hours, until the color is absorbed into it.

FULL GRAIN LEATHER

Also called Top Grain Leather, this term refers to the top layer of a hide from which only the hair and associated epidermis have been removed. Scars, scratches and other slight imperfections can be buffed lightly, but the total area treated cannot exceed 5% of the total surface of the hide. Full grain leather is the toughest and retains the beauty of the natural markings in the hide.

GLAZED LEATHER

In most good quality glazed leathers, the hides are usually aniline dyed before the glazed surface is applied. The beautiful polished surface is tough and achieved by polishing with heavy pressures by rollers made of agate, steel or glass. A glazed finish can also be achieved by coating with shellac or varnish.

KIP LEATHER

Kip leather is the skin from the bovine species (cows), between the size of a calf and a matured animal. This term includes skins from calves which have grown larger than the size usually slaughtered for veal and from certain breeds of undersized cattle which may have reached maturity. When tanned and dyed properly, this leather is soft and luxurious, and used by the best small leather goods manufacturers.

LEATHER

Skin or hide of animals, cured by tanning to prevent decay and to impart flexibility and toughness. Early people used pelts preserved with grease or smoke for garments, tents and containers. Since the 18th Century, machines have been used to split the tanned leather into the desired thickness of flesh layers and grain (hair-side) layers. Pelts are prepared by dehairing, cleaning, tanning, and treating with fats to ensure pliability. Finishes include glazing, staining or dye coloring, enameling or lacquering (as for patent leather), and sueding (buffing to raise a nap). Artificial leather, made since approximately 1850, is now mainly manufactured from vinyl.

MILLED LEATHER

A leather is milled by placing hides or skins in dry rotating drums fitted with wood dowels. The tumbling process softens the dried skins to create a glove like feel. Prior to being milled, the full grain leather is drum dyed. The result is color penetration throughout the thickness of the leather. Milling after drum dying is a great way to finish a leather for durability, years of handling and lasting beauty.

NAPA LEATHER

It is made by using chromium salts, sulfates of aluminum or a combination of these chemicals to tan cowhide, sheepskins and lambskins. Very soft to the hand, nappa is almost always drum dyed so the colors penetrate the skins. Very often, lightweight leather business cases with good durability are made with Napa leather.

NATURAL MARKINGS

Common leather markings include shading variations, healed scratches, neck wrinkles, insect bites, barbed wire marks, stretch marks, vein marks and brands. Although useful in distinguishing real from fake leathers, and 'naked' leathers from pigmented ones, new finishing techniques make it possible to simulate natural markings.

NUBUCK

A top grain, aniline dyed leather that is buffed to create a soft nap. Although similar in touch to suede, Nubuck is NOT a true suede, which is made from the less desirable split hide. Especially vulnerable to stains, nubucks are often lightly finished for protection.

PATINA

A lusture or shine that develops with use over time. Usually associated with fine antiques and vintage furniture.

PIGMENT DYING

It refers to leather whose surface has been coated with finishing materials containing pigments or other opaque materials. The process is much like a painting process and the dye stays close to the surface. With years of use, pigment dyed leathers may require you to touch up scratches that have penetrated deep enough into the leather to reach the natural hide, which would be lighter in color.

PULLUP

A full grain, aniline dyed leather that is waxed or oiled. When pulled, the oils/waxes cause the color to migrate and become lighter in pulled areas. A look associated with good quality.

SEMI-ANILINE

Also called aniline-plus or protected aniline. A top grain leather that is aniline dyed and coated with matching pigment and/or other topical finishes to even out the color and add protection.

SPLIT GRAIN LEATHER

Split grain is a term we use to describe the lower layer of the hide that has been split away from the top layer. Generally, if it is used in the making of business cases or leather accessories, it is buffed to make the surface as smooth as possible. A coating, usually urethane, is applied to make the surface tougher and more uniform. Split grain leathers are much less durable than full grain, and a lot less expensive. They are good in the sense that they provide a less expensive leather alternative to vinyl. However, we at CLC do not sell large accessories, handbags, business cases, and other large leather products made from split grain leather. Moreover, we discourage you, our faithful and loyal customers, do refrain from buying such products made from split grain leather from other vendors because you will be discouraged from purchasing leather products overall, thinking that all of them are cheap in quality like the split leather items that you have purchased.

SUEDE

Recognized by it's velvet-like nap. Typically made from buffing the underside of the hide.

TANNING

Process by which skins and hides are made into leather. Vegetable tanning (shown in Egyptian tomb paintings dating from 3000 B.C.) uses tannin, is usually employed for heavy leathers, and requires more than a month to complete. Mineral tanning includes alum tanning and chrome tanning, the process most common today, requiring only a few hours. In oil tanning, or chamoising, a method used by Native Americans, the pelt is treated with fats and hung to dry; the leather is usually napped on both sides. A modern tanning process employs artificial agents (syntans).

VEGETABLE TANNING

Vegetable (or Bark) tanned leathers have been tanned with vegetable materials that are derived from certain plants and woods and these dyes are very environmentally friendly. Most of the leather goods that we sell on our website have been vegetable tanned, if any treatment is involved.