Whether dressing up or down, you’ll rarely make a mistake by adding leather to your outfit. It could be your shoes, an accessory, a jacket, a belt, a bag, or even a watch strap. Leather won’t do you wrong until it comes to quality.
You may or have bought genuine leather products because everyone says they are good quality, durable, and long-lasting. You paid a pretty penny too. But in truth, genuine leather is far from the best, and there’s a massive difference between it and full-grain leather.
Keep reading to find out what full-grain leather is, how it differs from other leather grains, why it’ll always be better quality than any other leather, and why it deserves a spot in your wardrobe. For those who appreciate the timeless quality and durability of leather goods, exploring the best leather backpacks for men to have can add a sophisticated touch to any ensemble.
What Is Full Grain Leather?
Humans have been making leather by treating animal hides against decay for thousands of years. It’s a relatively common material for shoes, bags, and other accessories. However, most of these products are genuine leather—one of the lowest quality leathers.
Full-grain leather is the highest quality because it contains the complete, outermost grain of the animal’s hide. In other words, it’s the outer layer of the animal skin and the strongest layers below it. It makes full-grain leather more durable, tear resistant, and wear-resistant than other grains.
Being the outermost layer of skin, this also means that any markings, spots, and scars an animal had while it was alive may be present on full-grain leather. Such markings are only a testament to the leather’s quality. It also adds to the natural look and feel of the leather, which you might enjoy, and will only look better as the leather patinas over time.
Thus, full-grain leather products will be less uniform than other grains—each piece will have slight variations. For example, shoes made from full-grain leather may have slightly different textures.
Leather Patina
Leather patina is that iconic leather look. The darkening, wear, and sheen that develops on high-quality leather goods over time. When regular use and exposure to the world give the leather that aesthetically pleasing aged look, that’s what’s called a leather patina.
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Only higher-grade leathers develop patina naturally, because it only forms on the outer layer of the animal’s skin (Citation: vonbaer.com). And full-grain leather patinas are better than any other grade of leather.
What causes a patina to form is a combination of environmental factors. It’s typically an accumulation of general wear, exposure to sunlight, dirt, oils from your skin when handled, and oils from being treated. Essentially anything the leather touches over its lifetime can become part of its patina. A spill that leaves a stained spot today could someday turn into a much-loved unique aspect of your item’s patina.
Other Qualities Of Leather
There are four main grains, or qualities, of leather: full-grain, top-grain, genuine, and bonded leather, all in decreasing order of quality.
- Top-Grain: It is closest to the quality of full-grain. It’s still considered a high-quality material and is nearly as durable. The difference in top-grain leathers is that the thin, outermost layer of the animal hide—that gives full-grain leather its key characteristics—is removed. Both top and bottom of this leather are sanded and finished to have a uniform look, while full-grain may have markings, scars, or inconsistencies. This leather is usually used in high-quality products when the maker wants a consistent appearance throughout the piece.
- Genuine: It is the lowest quality of actual leather available. It’s the innermost part of the animal’s hide; the corium and suede also come from this part of the hide. Neither genuine leather nor suede includes the hide’s grain like higher-quality leather.
- Bonded: It is the lowest leather quality. Instead of being a piece of animal hide, it’s a mashed blend of leather scraps, shavings, dust, and plastic. This mash is usually suspended in glue and processed to imitate the look of natural leather, although it certainly doesn’t match the quality.
The Genuine Leather Trap And Why Full Grain Is The Best
So, genuine leather products are everywhere. However, they’re usually lower-cost, lower-quality, mass-produced items sold off shelves. And for products that aren’t intended for heavy use, like wallets or ties, it could still make a decent product that’ll last a few years. Even still, products advertised as genuine leather typically aren’t of the best quality.
In the worst-case scenario, you’d buy a bonded leather product advertised as genuine leather. Manufacturers get away with this by using genuine leather shavings in their bonded leather, so they’re technically selling you pieces of genuine leather. Be wary of the product labels—look for tricky lines like ‘made with genuine leather.’
On the other hand, makers who use full-grain leather are proud of their product, quality, and skill. A full-grain leather item will last for as long as you take care of it. The stitching is more likely to wear before the leather, but that’s easy to replace. Full-grain products will cost more initially, but you won’t have to replace them for years, if at all!
Full-Grain Is The Way
Full-grain leather is the highest-quality leather available. It comes from the outermost layer of an animal’s hide, making it the most robust, hardy type of leather available. Products made from full-grain leather will develop a beautiful patina over time and can even have markings or scars from when the animal was alive, making your item unique.
Whether looking for a jacket, handbag, backpack, belt, wallet, pair of shoes, or boots, the highest quality will always come from full-grain leather. They’ll probably last you the rest of your life and will only become more unique along the way.
