Our Leather
We use only full grain leather from American cows tanned by the best tanneries. That is important to us. We work with a variety of leathers. Mostly we use vegetable tanned cowhide.
The leather products are all hand made. The designs are done by hand using many hundreds of tools that have been accumulated over the years. Our dyes come from the 100+ year old Angelus Shoe Polish Company. They have been at it longer than we have!
A buyer’s guide to leather
Sometimes on the underside of a belt or inside a leather good, the leather quality will be stamped one of three things: genuine leather, top-grain leather, or full-grain leather. But what exactly do these mean? When you’re buying nice leather goods, you should know exactly what to look for in your leather.
Genuine leather doesn’t just mean that the product is made of real leather (which it is), but it also means it is the lowest quality of all products made out of real leather. Genuine leather generally doesn’t last as long, look as nice or feel that good to the touch. Goods marked as genuine leather will be several layers of low quality leather bonded together with glue and then painted to look like a better quality leather. It is the part of the leather that is left over when the other, higher grades are stripped away. This grade of leather is acceptable if you’re just buying something cheap and don’t care too much about its quality. It won’t last very long, so it probably shouldn’t be something you use every day. Genuine leather is typically used by mass-production low cost providers of guitar straps.
Top-grain leather is the grade of leather you’ll find in “fine” leather goods and is the middle-of-the-road quality of leather. It’s used in the vast majority of purses for women as well as small leather goods for men like wallets that are sold by well-known designer brands. It is made by splitting a piece of full-grain leather and sanding away any imperfections in the hide and stamping a fake grain on it. Usually, it’s then treated and colored to provide a completely uniform look. The finished product ends up being a bit plastic-y, and not nearly as durable as the best quality leather – full grain. It will not age well with use, and will end up looking old and worn after a time. The finished feel of top grain leather is great, however, if you don’t care as much about durability or comfort. The larger belt and guitar strap producers use this quality of leather.
Full-grain leather takes the entire grain of the hide, with all the imperfections (cows like to scratch their backs on barbed wire fences for instance) and inherent toughness of the material. It’s often used for heavy-duty leather items, like weapon holsters and utility belts. But it can also be used with great success for belts, guitar straps, wallets, notebooks and numerous other leather goods. This type of leather is naturally marked with imperfections from the animal, like a brand or a scar, but products from pricier companies won’t use these flawed hides. Full grain leather is hard-as-nails leather that will develop a rich patina as it ages, looking more and more beautiful as you use it. It’s widely recognized as the best and highest quality leather money can buy. Often much more expensive, full-grain pays dividends with its durability. If you invest in an item made with full-grain leather, you will probably have that item for the rest of your life if you take care of it properly.
At Hidemasters, we select each hide of full-grain leather with an eye to finding perfect hides that feel great and look great…guaranteed.
The leather products are all hand made. The designs are done by hand using many hundreds of tools that have been accumulated over the years. Our dyes come from the 100+ year old Angelus Shoe Polish Company. They have been at it longer than we have!
A buyer’s guide to leather
Sometimes on the underside of a belt or inside a leather good, the leather quality will be stamped one of three things: genuine leather, top-grain leather, or full-grain leather. But what exactly do these mean? When you’re buying nice leather goods, you should know exactly what to look for in your leather.
Genuine leather doesn’t just mean that the product is made of real leather (which it is), but it also means it is the lowest quality of all products made out of real leather. Genuine leather generally doesn’t last as long, look as nice or feel that good to the touch. Goods marked as genuine leather will be several layers of low quality leather bonded together with glue and then painted to look like a better quality leather. It is the part of the leather that is left over when the other, higher grades are stripped away. This grade of leather is acceptable if you’re just buying something cheap and don’t care too much about its quality. It won’t last very long, so it probably shouldn’t be something you use every day. Genuine leather is typically used by mass-production low cost providers of guitar straps.
Top-grain leather is the grade of leather you’ll find in “fine” leather goods and is the middle-of-the-road quality of leather. It’s used in the vast majority of purses for women as well as small leather goods for men like wallets that are sold by well-known designer brands. It is made by splitting a piece of full-grain leather and sanding away any imperfections in the hide and stamping a fake grain on it. Usually, it’s then treated and colored to provide a completely uniform look. The finished product ends up being a bit plastic-y, and not nearly as durable as the best quality leather – full grain. It will not age well with use, and will end up looking old and worn after a time. The finished feel of top grain leather is great, however, if you don’t care as much about durability or comfort. The larger belt and guitar strap producers use this quality of leather.
Full-grain leather takes the entire grain of the hide, with all the imperfections (cows like to scratch their backs on barbed wire fences for instance) and inherent toughness of the material. It’s often used for heavy-duty leather items, like weapon holsters and utility belts. But it can also be used with great success for belts, guitar straps, wallets, notebooks and numerous other leather goods. This type of leather is naturally marked with imperfections from the animal, like a brand or a scar, but products from pricier companies won’t use these flawed hides. Full grain leather is hard-as-nails leather that will develop a rich patina as it ages, looking more and more beautiful as you use it. It’s widely recognized as the best and highest quality leather money can buy. Often much more expensive, full-grain pays dividends with its durability. If you invest in an item made with full-grain leather, you will probably have that item for the rest of your life if you take care of it properly.
At Hidemasters, we select each hide of full-grain leather with an eye to finding perfect hides that feel great and look great…guaranteed.