Full Grain vs. Top Grain Leather (or the Saddleback Difference)

[sieurdesushi]

is there any way to purchase full grain leather in small quantities for personal projects?

[friggingriff44]

(cont.) and leather hides with defects are cheaper. I believe his leather to be latigo leather, of which I can buy all over the internet, which will be full-grain and have flaws. Then I can make my own for a lot cheaper.

[friggingriff44]

I own a few Saddleback products, briefcase and wallet. When I initially found Saddleback, I was so impressed with the "Full Grain" leather that will last 100 years. He also made having imperfections in your piece sound desirable. Now, I know first-hand that Saddleback products are high-quality, but I have come to learn that these products are way over-priced. Pigskin in which almost all Saddleback products is lined is very cheap and......(to be continued)

[snipperacoustics]

Also, the quality of the leather depends on where the leather is coming from i.e. Europe India or the far East. European leather is very expensive as it is some of the cleanest around in terms of marks. In Europe animals have plenty of room to move about where places like India they seem to get touched by the barb wire etc therefore a lot of it ends-up as top grain...

[snipperacoustics]

I do agree that top grain or corrected leather is sanded down to correct the imperfections of the leather however the comparison of the two leather samples is slightly deceiving. Billingham is using top grain leather that is thicker or equivalenst to Saddleback's leather.

Because it is sanded down doesn't mean it will be much thinner. Full grain leather maintains all the grain and the strength of the leather. It's more beautiful but can also be very thin, depending on what it will be used for.

[2HoundsDesign]

Great explanation and the visual examples are perfect!

[leatherhelpguy]

Sorry @chas987654 we'll just have to agree to disagree. But thanks again for taking the time to view and comment.

[leatherhelpguy]

(continued) leather samples are thicker and sturdier than all of the furniture leather samples I have in my shop. Different leather for different applications. Thats my main point. Thanks again.

[leatherhelpguy]

@chas987654 glad you took the time to so carefully investigate this. Are you in the leather industry too? Does look like from the diagram Dave and I have a bit different defn. of top grain vs full grain. My knowledge, leaned from industry experts and visits to tanneries over 20yrs is that many quality top-grain leathers are not sanded down but simply surface corrected and split (bite marks, scars, ect are filled and finished over not sanded down). But the main point remains- Daves full-grain

[chas987654]

This is the link to Saddleback's explanation of the different types of leather:

saddlebackleather (dot) com/18-why-saddleback-leather-­is-better

I find it amusing that Saddleback touts how great their full-grain leather is, but then says it will have marks and scrapes and scars. Top quality full-grain leather has none of these, so they're actually using leather that would normally be made into top-grain. It's still plenty strong and durable, but it's not of the quality that they imply.

[chas987654]

(continued from above) sold as full-grain. If the surface is undesirable, the top layers are sanded off to create a smooth surface. This is called top-grain. When this is done, the hide can be split further down so that the final thickness is the same as the full-grain. The difference is that the top-grain isn't quite as durable because the hide gets weaker as you go deeper into it.

Saddleback has a graphic on their site the shows this. You're just comparing thick leather to thin leather.

[chas987654]

Nice try, but no. All leather, including full-grain, is split...it would be too thick to work with otherwise. Top-grain leather can be had in the exact same thickness as full-grain leather, but it will be slightly less strong than the full-grain.

The reason is that full-grain starts at the very surface of the cow's skin, where the leather is the most durable. However, the surface can be visibly damaged by insect bites or barbed-wire. So, the best looking leather is (continued below)

[stlallstar]

@chas987654 You DO know that because top -grain gets sanded down so much it takes years off the life of the leather right? It doesn't wear better than full-grain and the fact that some bags have scarring (based on the history of the animal), it adds some character to the bag and doesn't look like you can go to the nearest mall and get one just like it. If you want a bag with a smooth finish that looks like everyone else's, go to gucci.com or prada.com LOL!

[1604169]

Love Saddleback Leather Co. Best products on the market IMO.