Leather Terminology

My journey into the leather industry wasn’t as rosy as I had envisioned. For what began as a hobby, I had to learn on the job and commit to improving every day, from the workmanship to the quality of my leather.

And as a leather amateur at that time, not knowing the standard terms and grains used in the trade was a major setback.

Fortunately, with consistency, dedication, and 1000+ products later, I’ve come to learn a lot about leather, which led me first to write the 78 Leather Glossary Terms.

But today, I’ll take it a notch higher with an intensive leather terminology that explains these 78 (and many other) terms in detail, including:

  • Their in-depth definitions
  • Their synonyms
  • Other terms closely related to them
  • How to use them in a sentence

Leather

  • Leather Production
  • Leather Weight and Thickness

    • Leather Grades

  • Full Grain Leather
  • Split Grain Leather

    • Leather Finishes

  • Leather Finish
  • Matte Finish
  • Nubuck Leather
  • Patent Finish
  • Patent Leather
  • Pigmented Leather
  • Semi-Aniline Leather
  • Suede Finish

    • Leather Tanning

  • Tanning
  • Tawing
  • Vegetable Tanning

    • Leather Types

  • Full Hand
  • Grained Leather
  • Hair-On Hide Leather
  • Imitation Leather
  • Laminated Leather
  • Naked Leather
  • Pearlized Leather
  • Perforated Leather
  • Pleather
  • PU Leather
  • Re-Tanned Leather
  • Shrunken Grain Leather
  • Unfinished Leather
  • Unprotected Leather
  • Vegetable Tanned Leather
  • Wet Blue Leather

    • Leather Hide

  • Hide
  • Leather Hide Parts
  • Rawhide
  • Whole Hide Leather

    • Other Leather Terms

  • Curing
  • Drawn Grain
  • Drum Dyeing
  • Fat Wrinkles
  • Grain (Character)
  • Grain (Leather)
  • Hand
  • Hand Rubbing
  • Liming
  • Milling
  • Natural Grain
  • Patina
  • Skive
  • Table Run
  • Trimming
  • Yield


    • Written by Ryan Popoff

    Ryan Popoff is the creative mind behind Popov Leather wallets, iPhone cases, belts, watch bands and journals since 2013. With a Bachelor Degree in Fine Arts, my leatherworking journey began at home. I wanted to create a simple leather wallet that could fit into my front pocket and — to my delight — it was a hit with family and friends. Hopefully you love our honest, quality leather goods too! Read more