74 need-to-know leather industry terms

Leather 
The hide or skin exclusively of animal origin, with its original fibrous structure more or less intact to be tanned. The hair or wool may or may not have been removed, the hide or skin may have been split into layers or segmented either before or after tanning, and where any surface coating or surface layer, however applied, is not thicker than 0,15 mm.

Split leather 
A split is a layer of hide or skin obtained by dividing it horizontally (splitting) to obtain at least two separate layers; the top layer is called grain split and the bottom layer is called flesh split; for heavy hides a middle split can also be obtained. The layer from a hide or skin that is made from a flesh split or a middle split is known as split leather.

Grain split 
The upper or top layer of a hide or skin with grain surface, separated from the hide or skin by splitting horizontally in a machine.

Flesh split
The inner of under layer of a hide or skin with grain surface, separated from the hide or skin by splitting horizontally in a machine.

Middle split 
The middle layer of a hide or skin with grain surface, separated from the hide or skin by splitting horizontally in a machine.

Crust 
Leather that is tanned, fat liquored and dried before finishing.

Dyed crust
Leather that has been tanned, dyed, fat liquored and dried before finishing. 

Pearl crust leather
Undyed leather that has been tanned, retanned, fat liquored and dried before finishing.

Pelt 
A hide or skin that has been prepared for tanning by removing the hair or the wool, epidermis and flesh. (The term pelt can also be used for the skin of an animal with fur or hair still on it.)

Pickled pelt 
Pelt that has been treated with acid and brine to be preserved or to be prepared for tanning. (The term pelt can also be used for the skin of an animal with fur or hair still on it.)

Wet-blue
Leather that is in a wet condition after chrome tanning. (Wet-blue is an intermediate stage of manufacturing.)

Wet-white 
Leather that is in a wet condition after tanning with substances, such as zirconium salts, aluminium salts, modified aldehydes, glutaraldehydes and syntans, that confer a white colour. (Wet-white is an intermediate stage of manufacturing.)

Finished leather
Leather that has been processed to a stage where it is suitable for use in the making of products.

Grain 
The outer side of the leather once the hair or wool and epidermis have been removed, characterised by follicles from hair or wool, feather follicles or scales, specific to each animal species.

Full grain
Leather that has kept its entire grain, with none of the surface removed by any corrective mechanical treatment.

Corrected grain 
Leather in which the grain has been partially removed by buffing or any similar mechanical treatment and enhanced by a finishing treatment.

Shrunken grain leather
Leather that has been specifically tanned so to shrink the grain layer, with a grain surface of prominent but uneven folds and valleys.

Chrome-tanned leather
Hide or skin that has been converted to leather either by treating solely with chromium salts or with chromium salts together with a small amount of some other tanning agent to assist the chromium tanning process.

Semi-chrome leather
Leather that has been tanned first with vegetable tanning and then retanned with chromium salts.

Chrome-free leather
Hide or skin converted to leather by a tanning agent free of chromium salts, where the total content of chromium in the tanned leather is less than or equal to 0.1 percent (mass of chromium/total dry weight of leather).

Metal-free- tanned leather
Hide or skin converted to leather, where the total content of all tanning metals in the leather is less than or equal to 0.1 percent (the mass of all metals/total dry weight of leather).

Vegetable- tanned leather
Hide or skin that has been converted to leather by vegetable tanning agents, where the total content of tanning metals is less than or equal to 0.3 percent (the mass of all metals/total dry weight of leather). Please note: metals contained in the finishes are not counted here.

Aniline leather 
Leather with a natural grain that is clearly visible either without a surface coating or with a non-pigmented surface coating. (The thickness of non-pigmented surface coating
is usually less than or equal to 0.01mm.)

Semi-aniline leather
Leather that has been coated with a finish containing a small amount of pigment, so that the natural grain is clearly visible.

Pigmented leather and pigmented split leather
Leather with a natural grain or surface is completely concealed with a finish containing pigments.

Coated leather and coated split leather
Leather and split leather where the surface coating applied to the outer side does not exceed one third of the total thickness of the product but is in excess of 0.15mm.LPatent leather

Patent split leather
Leather with generally a mirror-like effect, obtained by application of a layer of pigmented or non-pigmented varnishes, or synthetic resins, whose thickness does not exceed one third of the total thickness of the product. Varnishes and lacquers are usually based on linseed oil, nitrocellulose, polyurethane and/or other synthetic resins

Laminated leather
Lather where a foil (polymeric film) layer, not exceeding one third of the total thickness, is applied by a transfer coating process. Other methods of applying a foil include plating,
embossing and ironing.

Box calf 
Full chrome0tanned calf leather, black or coloured, smooth or boarded, with proteinic
finishing.

Cavallino 
The Italian term for leather, usually derived from calf skins, with trimmed and short hair so that it looks as glossy and silky as the hair of the horse.

Chamois 
Leather that is made from the flesh split of sheepskin or lamb skin from which the grain has been removed by frizzing and tanned by processes involving the oxidation of marine oils in the skin, using solely such oils (full-oil chamois) or first an aldehyde and then oils (combination chamois).

Double face
Double-sided leather made from lamb or sheep skins or other animals with wool, dressed,
tanned, softened and dyed for desired properties.

Nappalan 
Finishing on the flesh side of hides and skins.

Napa
Soft full grain leather through dyed and lightly finished.Leather Working Group

Nap
Vertical and fine fibres cut short enough to produce a velvety two-tone effect when a two-way stroke is applied by hand.

Nubuck 
Leather that is snuffed (buffed) to give a velvety effect, where the original grain pattern is still visible.

Shearling 
The tanned and dressed skin of a sheep still bearing the original wool that has been cut to
approximately even length.

Suede Velours
Leather or split leather with a wearing surface that has been mechanically finished to produce a velvet-like nap.

Skiver
Tanned outer or grain split, typically of a sheepskin or lambskin, but sometimes applied to goatskin or calfskin.

Pull up
Leather that, by design, lightens in colour when stretched.

Hide
Raw skin of a mature or fully grown animal of the larger kind, such as cattle and buffalo.

Raw Hide
Hide that has only been treated to preserve it.

Recycled leather fibre
Material with a minimum amount of 50 percent in weight of dry leather fibres, where tanned hides or skins are disintegrated mechanically and/or chemically into fibrous particles, small pieces or powders and then, with or without the combination of chemical binding agent, are made into sheets.

Side 
Half of a whole hide that is obtained by dividing it along the line of the backbone.

Skin 
The outer covering of smaller types of animals, such as sheep and goats, or of the immature animals of the larger species, such as calves.

Substance 
The physical thickness of leather.

Transfer coated leather and transfer coated split leather
Leather or split leather where a foil (polymeric film) layer (not exceeding one third of the total thickness) is applied by a transfer coating process on the top surface.

Part-processed 
Leather that has undergone processing from raw hide but has not been processed to a stage
where it is suitable for use in the making of products. (The most common conditions for part processed material are wet blue / wet white and crust.)

Abattoir/slaughterhouse
Where animals are sent for slaughter at end of life.

Agent/trader 
A company that buys raw, part processed or finished leather from one company and sells them to another one. The products remain unchanged.

Brand Agent 
A party that buys and sells finished leather on behalf of brands without any transformation of material.

Establishment 
Any premises, structure or, in the case of open-air farming, any environment or place where livestock are kept, on a temporary or permanent basis.

Plot of land 
Land within a single real-estate property, as recognised by the law of the country of production, that has sufficiently homogeneous conditions to allow an evaluation of the aggregate level of risk of deforestation and forest degradation associated with relevant commodities produced on that land.

Geolocation 
The geographical location of a plot of land described by means of latitude and longitude coordinates corresponding to at least one latitude and one longitude point and using at least six decimal digits. For plots of land of more than four hectares used for the production of the relevant commodities other than cattle, this can be provided using polygons with sufficient latitude and longitude points to describe the perimeter of each plot of land.

Farm 
A place where the birth, raising and/or finishing or full life cycle of an animal takes place.

Industrialised farm system
A process that combines the characteristics of a birthing farm, rearing farm and finishing farm (feedlot), and is commonly used for large-volume meat production.

Birthing farm 
Where animals are born and stay with their mothers until they are weaned.

Rearing/raising farm
A facility where young animals are sent to continue to grow to a pre-determined age/weight.

Finishing farm 
Where animals spend the last period of life, prior to slaughter, to ensure optimum weight and
health for meat production. (For cattle, this is approximately four months.)

Direct Supplier 
A person or business that supplies goods or services directly to a person or business.
(A business could be an organisation, manufacturing facility or farm.)

Indirect supplier
A person or business that supplies goods/services to another supplier as an intermediary.
(A business could be an organisation, manufacturing facility or farm.)

Finished leather manufacturer
A place where the process of leather manufacturing occurs to the point of producing
finished leather. (Finished leather manufacturers may perform the whole transformation process from raw hide to finished leather or from part processed material to finished leather.)

Finished product manufacturer
A person or company who transforms finished leather into final products.

Animal origin 
The point or place where the animal was born.

Hide and skin origin
The point or place where the hide or skin is separated from the carcass.

Subcontractor 
A person or company that signs a contract to perform part or all of the obligations of another’s contract. (In the leather sector a subcontractor provides a transformation process on behalf of a tannery without owning the material.)

Tannery 
A place where the process of tanning is undertaken. (Tanneries may perform the whole
transformation process from raw hide to finished leather or may only undertake the tanning process.)

Leather manufacturer
A place where the process of leather production happens. Leather manufacturers may perform the whole transformation process from raw hide to finished leather or may perform a part process

Commissioning Manufacturer
A person or company that buys raw or part processed material and commission manufacturing work to be carried out by subcontractors, before selling it on as finished leather.

Tanning 
The treatment of hide or skin with extracts of natural products (e.g. bark, leaves, seeds) or chemical agents (such as chromium, aluminium, organic compounds) to stabilise against heat, enzymatic attack and thermo-mechanical stress.

Traceability 
The ability to trace the history, application or location of an object" in a supply chain.

Supply chain 
The chain of businesses that are involved in the creation of a product to a specific point.

Value chain 
The full chain of businesses that are involved in the creation of a product or service – from the animal origin to final product for sale, and including post-consumption businesses.

Thanks to United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, International Organization for Standardization and European Committee for Standardization.