A matter of leather
To clean and/or repair any type of leather,
it is of fundamental importance to understand the various
types of finish in order to determine the best way to treat them.
Learn about the types of leather
ANILINE (also known as ‘natural’)
The surface of this leather is dyed with transparent dyes. This transparency effect is similar to the one observed by looking at a piece of colored wood, where the color does not cover, but rather enhances, the knots and natural grain of the wood. In fact, the top grain remains natural and very visible. Aniline leather will then have certain imperfections that naturally occur, ensuring that each piece is unique. Leather of this type has only minimal surface coverage, so it is more sensitive to the effects of wear. To maintain its natural beauty, it is absolutely essential to follow a cleaning and protection routine from the start of use.
Advantages: Natural appearance – Excellent feel – Natural, top grain and minor defects – Very soft and breathable.
Learn about the types of leather
ANILINE (also known as ‘natural’)
The surface of this leather is dyed with transparent dyes. This transparency effect is similar to the one observed by looking at a piece of colored wood, where the color does not cover, but rather enhances, the knots and natural grain of the wood. In fact, the top grain remains natural and very visible. Aniline leather will then have certain imperfections that naturally occur, ensuring that each piece is unique. Leather of this type has only minimal surface coverage, so it is more sensitive to the effects of wear. To maintain its natural beauty, it is absolutely essential to follow a cleaning and protection routine from the start of use.
Advantages: Natural appearance – Excellent feel – Natural, top grain and minor defects – Very soft and breathable.
SEMI ANILINE
This type of leather is covered by a slightly pigmented finish to make the color more uniform and hide minor defects. To preserve the natural look of the leather, it is then sprayed with bright, transparent colors. This coating provides only light protection, so the application of Leather Protector is highly recommended.
Advantages: Natural grain finish – Pleasant feel and appearance – Improved light-fastness compared to pure aniline leather – Breathable
SEMI ANILINE
This type of leather is covered by a slightly pigmented finish to make the color more uniform and hide minor defects. To preserve the natural look of the leather, it is then sprayed with bright, transparent colors. This coating provides only light protection, so the application of Leather Protector is highly recommended.
Advantages: Natural grain finish – Pleasant feel and appearance – Improved light-fastness compared to pure aniline leather – Breathable
PIGMENTED
This is the most widely used finishing technique, consisting of a uniform surface of a basecoat of pigments and resins followed by a protective topcoat. They can be identified by their consistent color and uniformity. This type of leather is ideal for frequently used items, such as furniture and vehicle seats, especially when a child-friendly solution is required. FENICE’s leather care products provide an easy care solution for all these types of leather. Full refinishing is possible whenever restoration is necessary.
Advantages: Uniform color and covering – Good coverage of defects – Light-resistant – Lower cost – Easy to maintain.
NUBUCK (SUEDE)
Nubuck is actually aniline leather that has a sanded surface to give a fine, velvety feel. The look and feel of this leather are incomparable and work well for infrequent use. FENICE’s exclusive, highly specialized care products are ideal for the care, protection and preservation of nubuck leather throughout its life.
Advantages: Velvety appearance and touch – Very soft, warm and natural – Soft and breathable.
NUBUCK (SUEDE)
Nubuck is actually aniline leather that has a sanded surface to give a fine, velvety feel. The look and feel of this leather are incomparable and work well for infrequent use. FENICE’s exclusive, highly specialized care products are ideal for the care, protection and preservation of nubuck leather throughout its life.
Advantages: Velvety appearance and touch – Very soft, warm and natural – Soft and breathable.
PULL UP (WAXED)
Fashions come and go, but waxy, oiled leather is here to stay! “Pull up” was originally used to describe the effect on a type of leather known as “Timberland”, after the well-known footwear producer made this type of article famous. This leather lightens when stretched, folded, or “pulled up”.
Advantages: Great look and feel – Vintage effect – Unique streaked lightening effect when pulled or folded.
BYCAST
This leather type requires a completely different system of finish, enhancing ‘split’ or heavily buffed leather, which maintains uniform thickness and softness. The technique consists of creating a finishing film on a continual support of release paper. An adhesive is applied to the film, then the film is pressed onto the leather. The finished leather is then removed from the release paper, displaying a perfectly uniform surface. When bycast leather is stretched, a lighter color is visible and disappears once it’s not pulled. This stretching action is sometimes used to identify bycast leather.
Advantages: More resistant than ‘split’/heavily buffed leather – uniform thickness and softness.
BYCAST
This leather type requires a completely different system of finish, enhancing ‘split’ or heavily buffed leather, which maintains uniform thickness and softness. The technique consists of creating a finishing film on a continual support of release paper. An adhesive is applied to the film, then the film is pressed onto the leather. The finished leather is then removed from the release paper, displaying a perfectly uniform surface. When bycast leather is stretched, a lighter color is visible and disappears once it’s not pulled. This stretching action is sometimes used to identify bycast leather.
Advantages: More resistant than ‘split’/heavily buffed leather – uniform thickness and softness.
How to identify leather types
Can you recognize different types of leather?
There are many different ways to finish leather, and in our labs the Fenice R&D team works every day to create new, fashionable effects using new technology. Nonetheless, basic identification is easy to do with just your finger and a few drops of water.
Take this simple test!
The Long Journey of Leather
Quality / Price of Leather
Why is there such a difference in price between various types of leather? Price depends on the amount of natural markings visible on the leather at the time of slaughter. Hides free of natural
markings are rare and therefore very expensive.
Animals from protected & controlled stables ❯ Rarer, more uniform, more expensive leather
Animals raised in the wild ❯ Less expensive leather with natural markings
Countries of Origin
Some countries have a thriving livestock industry. Leather is a byproduct of the meat industry. There would be no benefit to
kill an animal just for its leather. South America is currently the largest provider of meat and leather in the world.
The largest producers of leather are:
EUROPE | USA | AUSTRALIA | NEW ZEALAND | RUSSIA | BRASIL
The Long Journey of Leather
Quality / Price of Leather
Why is there such a difference in price between various types of leather? Price depends on the amount of natural markings visible on the leather at the time of slaughter. Hides free of natural
markings are rare and therefore very expensive.
Animals from protected & controlled stables ❯ Rarer, more uniform, more expensive leather
Animals raised in the wild ❯ Less expensive leather with natural markings
Countries of Origin
Some countries have a thriving livestock industry. Leather is a byproduct of the meat industry. There would be no benefit to
kill an animal just for its leather. South America is currently the largest provider of meat and leather in the world.
The largest producers of leather are:
EUROPE | USA | AUSTRALIA | NEW ZEALAND | RUSSIA | BRASIL
These are found very frequently on animals and are caused by:
Stage 1: Liming
Hides are preserved by salting after slaughter.
• Natural dirt is removed by washing with water.
• The original water content is restored to 65%.
• During the liming process, fats and other unnecessary natural substances are removed.
• The high pH value during this process loosens and dissolves the hair chemically.
Stage 2: Splitting
Splitting Machine Blade
A moving blade is used to split the leather horizontally (like a sandwich) creating 2 layers: the top grain / the outer part, where the hair was; the split / the inner part.
Bovine leather cross-section
Note that the fibers in the top grain are much more compact than the ones in the split. The top grain is therefore softer, much more resistant to tearing and, as a result, more expensive.
Stage 3: Tanning
Tanning preserves leather over time by preventing decomposition.
Tanning can be done using various tanning agents, the most common of which is chromium, which produces a bluish color, hence the name ‘wet blue’ given to tanned leather.
Stage 4: Dyeing
Dyeing involves immersing the leather in penetrating dyes, which color all surfaces and sections.
Dyed wet blue is then known as ‘crust’.
Stage 5: Selection
Leather is selected based on the presence of various natural characteristics and intended use. To clean and/or repair any type of leather, it is of fundamental importance to understand the various types of finish in order to determine the best way to treat them.
Aniline
Semi Aniline
Pull-up (Waxed)
Nubuck (Suede)
Pigmented
Bycast
Stage 6: Stucco Application
Only for pigmented leather.
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Leather often has a number of natural markings which require removal to ensure they are desirable to customers.
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This is done by filling or covering them with a white paste, called ‘stucco’, before removing the top part of the grain.
Stage 7: Buffing
- The upper part of the top grain is then removed using abrasive paper to smooth the surface and remove most of the natural markings.
- FULL-GRAIN LEATHER is UNBUFFED and therefore more valuable than BUFFED leather that has been filled and sanded.
Stage 8: Finishing
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A pigmented basecoat is applied to cover all defects and to create a uniform finish.
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Leather is then embossed with a hot plate or a roller to achieve the desired texture and hide any further visible natural markings.
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Finally, a transparent top coat is applied to block any transfer of color, protect the leather, and confer the feel and opacity desired.
Stage 9: Protection of Top Coat
• The top coat protects leather from stains and prevents any possible transfer of color to clothing.
• The use of non-specialized cleaning agents (e.g. alcohol or soaps) removes the top coat, irreparably damaging leather.
• After removing the top coat, the leather seems to be clean, but it’s sticky and the color will transfer to clothing.
• Applying Leather Protector to leather before use is essential to protect the top coat.
How Bycast is Made
How Bycast is Made
• A polyurethane film is created on a strip of printed paper by reversing the normal finishing procedure: first the top coat, then the base coat.
• Once the film has dried, it’s pasted over a split, creating Bycast.
Manufacturing a Sofa
From the furniture factory to your home.
A new sofa in a home is admired for its color, shape and comfort. Few people ever realize how much work and attention to detail go into making a sofa with all the characteristics that make it loved and appreciated.
Here is a brief summary outlining the key phases in the manufacturing of a sofa.
Manufacturing a Sofa
From the furniture factory to your home.
A new sofa in a home is admired for its color, shape and comfort. Few people ever realize how much work and attention to detail go into making a sofa with all the characteristics that make it loved and appreciated.
Here is a brief summary outlining the key phases in the manufacturing of a sofa.
Manual Cutting
Cutting is the first and most delicate phase in the production process and needs to be done by an expert to minimize waste. After the areas containing too many natural markings have been identified, “templates” are placed on the remaining leather. An expert cuts it in the most beneficial way in order to maximize the surface area that can be used for high-quality articles. Computerized cutting represents a new frontier for this phase of production.
Manual Cutting
Cutting is the first and most delicate phase in the production process and needs to be done by an expert to minimize waste. After the areas containing too many natural markings have been identified, “templates” are placed on the remaining leather. An expert cuts it in the most beneficial way in order to maximize the surface area that can be used for high-quality articles. Computerized cutting represents a new frontier for this phase of production.
Computerized Cutting
• The leather is scanned for faults.
• Templates are automatically inserted into the database.
• Each piece is cut to ensure that the maximum surface area possible is used, while avoiding areas with too many natural markings.
Computerized Cutting
• The leather is scanned for faults.
• Templates are automatically inserted into the database.
• Each piece is cut to ensure that the maximum surface area possible is used, while avoiding areas with too many natural markings.
Sewing
After the leather has been cut, it’s sewn using a machine that can agilely perforate the leather. Modern computerized machines are able to control this to obtain perfectly aligned stitches.
Sewing
After the leather has been cut, it’s sewn using a machine that can agilely perforate the leather. Modern computerized machines are able to control this to obtain perfectly aligned stitches.
Assembly
The carefully cut and sewn leather is placed on a prepared wooden frame for assembly by expert furniture craftsmen.
Assembly
The carefully cut and sewn leather is placed on a prepared wooden frame for assembly by expert furniture craftsmen.
Contact us
For whatever you may need, simply send an email to info@fenice.care
or use the form below.
Contact us
For whatever you may need, simply send an email to info@fenice.care
or use the form below.
Fenice Care System S.p.A. Unip.
Viale dei Lanifici, 18 | 36078 Valdagno (Vicenza) | Italy
R.E.A. 313015/Vi – C.F. e reg. imp. Vicenza P.IVA03282400245 – c.s. €120.000 i.v.
Tel. +39 0445.425500 – Fax +39 0445.425533 | www.fenice.care – info@fenice.care
