Leather

Leather is a natural durable and flexible material created by tanning animal rawhides and skins. The most common raw material is cattle hide. It can be produced at manufacturing scales ranging from artisan to modern industrial scale.
Leather is used to make a variety of articles, including footwear, clothing, armor, bags, book bindings, fashion accessories, and furniture. It is produced in a wide variety of types and styles and decorated by a wide range of techniques.

Manufacturing process

Leather is tanned using tannins extracted from vegetable matter, such as tree bark prepared in bark mills. It is supple and brown in color, with the exact shade depending on the mix of materials and the color of the skin. The color tan derives its name from the appearance of undyed vegetable-tanned leather. Vegetable-tanned leather is not stable in water; it tends to discolor, and if left to soak and then dry, it shrinks and becomes harder. This is a feature of oak-bark-tanned leather that is exploited in traditional shoemaking. In hot water, it shrinks drastically and partly congeals, becoming rigid and eventually brittle. Boiled leather is an example of this, where the leather has been hardened by being immersed in hot water, or in boiled wax or similar substances.

Item type

Raw Material

Rarity

common

Raw materials & Components

Animal rawhides and skins

Tools

raw leather working tools, leather tanning equipment