Veg-Tan Unfinished Leather Armchair

Vegetable-tanned leather is tanned using tannin and other ingredients found in vegetable matter, such as tree bark prepared in bark mills, and other similar sources.  It is supple and brown in color, with the exact shade depending on the mix of chemicals and the color of the skin.  It is the only form of leather suitable for use in leather carving or stamping.  Vegetable-tanned leather is not stable in water; it tends to discolor, so if left to soak and then dry it will shrink and become less supple, harder, and easily crack.  In hot water, it will shrink drastically and partly gelatinize, becoming rigid and eventually brittle and crack. Unlike other tanning types, vegetable-tanned leathers will require more fatliquor to keep it supple from easily cracking.  In extremely dry leather conditions with fat and oil moisture level below 7%, it is recommended that fatliquoring commence immediately after cleaning or stain removal before the leather becomes dry again. Leather without hydrating to relax the leather fibrils and fatliquor replenished prior to drying will lead to stiff leather and subject to easily cracking. A leather moisture meter or an equivalent common wood moisture meter will be useful to take the reading of its fatliquor level. A healthy leather fat and oil moisture level would read about 15%.

Leather Problem-Solving Matrix / Instruction