I usually just buy a leather wallet at some store and it starts to get grungy after a year or so. Any recommendations? Thanks.
I usually just buy a leather wallet at some store and it starts to get grungy after a year or so. Any recommendations? Thanks.
Interesting about genuine leather. I decided to check the wallet I’ve had with me for going on 20 years now the only mark I see on it says “genuine leather”. I never do any kind of care to it, it’s gone through all manner of weather from tropical rain to -30c, zero signs of damage. It’s perhaps the longest lasting most reliable thing I’ve ever owned and it sees daily abuse
I will admit that I’m simplifying leather quality terminology quite a lot with that.
Really that’s only part of the grading. There’s different layers to leather like there is to our skin
Full grain leather is basically what you probably think leather is- a slab of animal hide with flesh removed that’s been tanned
Top grain leather has basically had the very top layer sanded down to remove any imperfections.
Split gain leather has had ever more of the top layers removed (suede is a type of split grain) to
And genuine leather has had even more layers removed and usually needs a lot of processing done to it to make it look decent
The topmost layers are the most durable, and so genuine leather tends to not hold up as well as other grades, but it does have some valid uses, full grain leather can be stiff, and genuine leather tends to be pretty soft and flexible, and the other layers in between have their own properties that may or may not be desirable to preserve depending on the intended use.
And within those categories there are still other ways of grading quality- the quality of the hide you started with, different types of treatments and processing, etc. so there is genuine leather out there that is pretty nice, and trash full grain leather.
But as a genuine rule of thumb, if you’re looking for a sturdy leather thing, genuine leather usually isn’t the way to go
And then a step down you have stuff like bonded leather which is basically shredded up leather that’s been mixed with rubber and such and formed into a sheet.