Business

Leather defect

PRLog (Press Release) - May 27, 2009 - Leather is an incredibly wonderful natural fabric that's been used for thousands of years. No man made material has been able to surpass the natural beauty and toughness of leather but there are defects which may be caused during the life or after death of an animal.

Imperfections in the grain surface or structure of a hide or skin resulting in unsightly appearance and/ or weakness of the resultant leather. Such defects may have arisen during the life of the animal, or may have developed in the flaying and/or preparation of the stock. Defects exist on natural leather surfaces and they usually cannot be eliminated during processing. No international criterion specifies the compensatory counting for calf leather surface defects. So complicated negotiation causes additional cost and argument between suppliers and purchasers

Defects caused to hides during the life of an animal

Defects caused during life include:

1) Scars, resulting from scratches or cuts. (When the cut is healing, the fibers grow densely packed together, and the healed skin is often hard, raised, and lacking hair follicles. Scar damage is also caused by branding the animal for ownership purposes, usually in the butt area, which is the best part of the hide)

2) Infestations, such as ticks, warble flies, and mange. (Ticks pierce the skin to suck blood, leaving holes that look either like pin pricks or minor scars in the grain of the leather. This defect occurs mainly in the belly areas of the skin. Sarcoptic mange mites enter the epidermis and tunnel around, causing the cells to multiply and the hair to fall out. The grain surface becomes roughened, and the animal generally compounds the damage by rubbing to relieve the itching. In demodectic, or follicular, mange, the mites penetrate into the dermis itself, where a wall of fibers is formed to surround and "encyst" them. The cysts generally are seen on the grain of unhaired skins as...