Types of leather explained: veg-tan vs chrome-tan, thickness and grain
TUREFF• •0
Buying leather is confusing at first because sellers describe it in three different ways at once: how it was tanned, how thick it is, and which part of the hide it comes from. Once you can read those three, choosing the right piece for a project becomes straightforward.
How it was tanned
Tanning turns raw hide into a stable material that does not rot. The two methods you will meet most often behave very differently.
Vegetable-tanned (veg-tan) leather is tanned with tannins from plant material. It is firm, holds its shape and is the usual choice for tooling and stamping, because it keeps a pressed impression. It also takes dye well, burnishes to a smooth, polished edge, and darkens and develops a patina with use and light. The process takes much longer than chrome tanning, which is part of why veg-tan tends to cost more.
Chrome-tanned leather is tanned with chromium salts. It is softer, more flexible and more resistant to water, and it usually comes already dyed and finished. It is what most garments, upholstery and soft bags are made from. It does not hold tooling well and its edges do not burnish the way veg-tan does, so chrome-tan projects often have folded, painted or bound edges.
Combination-tanned leather uses both processes and sits somewhere in between.
As a rough rule for beginners:
- Wallets, card holders, belts, sheaths, key fobs and anything with burnished edges: veg-tan.
- Soft pouches, linings, garments and slouchy bags: chrome-tan.
Thickness: ounces and millimetres
Leather thickness is often given in ounces. This is not a weight of the piece you buy; it is a thickness measure, where 1 oz is about 1/64 inch, or roughly 0.4 mm. So:
- 2 oz is about 0.8 mm
- 3 oz is about 1.2 mm
- 4 oz is about 1.6 mm
- 6 oz is about 2.4 mm
- 8 oz is about 3.2 mm
- 10 oz is about 4 mm
Sellers usually give a range, such as 3 to 4 oz, because a natural hide is never perfectly even. Treat every chart as approximate and measure the piece if precision matters.
Typical uses:
- 1 to 3 oz: linings, card wallet interiors, small goods.
- 3 to 5 oz: wallets, card holders, small bags, notebook covers.
- 6 to 9 oz: belts, straps, knife sheaths, holsters.
- 10 oz and up: heavy belts, saddlery and stiff structural parts.
Thicker is not better; a card wallet in heavy leather becomes a brick. Most beginners do well with 3 to 4 oz veg-tan for first projects.
Grain: which part of the hide
A hide is split into layers. The outer surface, the grain, is the strongest and most attractive part.
- Full grain: the outer surface is left intact, with its natural marks and pores. It is the most durable and ages the best.
- Top grain: the very top surface has been sanded or buffed to remove marks, giving a more uniform look. It is still strong, but has lost some of the tightest fibres.
- Corrected grain: the surface has been buffed further and a new grain pattern is pressed or printed on. It looks very even and hides blemishes; opinions on its quality vary.
- Split: the lower, fibrous layer left after the grain is separated. It is often made into suede, and sometimes finished and embossed to look like grain leather. It is weaker than grain leather.
These terms are not tightly standardised and sellers use them differently, so ask what a supplier means if it matters.
Reading the flesh side
The rough back of the leather is the flesh side. On veg-tan it can be smoothed with water and a slicker, or treated with a finishing compound, which makes the inside of a wallet less fuzzy.
Practical buying tips
- Start with offcuts or a small panel rather than a whole side.
- Check for scars, holes and thin spots before you lay out your pattern.
- Note the direction of stretch: leather usually stretches more across the hide than along the spine.
Which leather did you start with, and what would you choose now? Ask about a specific project or share your experience in the comments.