Cowhide Leather

Believe it or not, most of the leather goods available in America are made from cow's skin. You can check the label of the products for confirmation. Of course, there are different types of leather extracted from other sources. But from the consumer's point of view, cowhide leather is affordable and less expensive than others. In case of superior quality hide, the original color of the bovine is retained, while leather dyeing procedure is performed for low-grade hide. Thus, you can get cowhide leather goods with their prints resembling that of a zebra, tiger or other animal.

What is Cowhide Leather?

As the name suggests, cowhide leather is a product of cattle. You can say it a valuable byproduct of cattle industries, which mainly focus on meat production. After the cows are slaughtered for meat, the skin is taken off for making leather products. Prior to using in leather clothing and furniture, natural hide tanning with plant bark extracts are followed to make it soft, supple and odor free. This step is followed by drying the cowhide to improve molting resistance and increase leather life. The quality of cowhide leather is determined during and after the leather tanning process.

Cow hides that have bruised marks in between are separated to make smaller accessories. Based on the texture imperfections, there are several quality grades of cowhide leather. While some have a smooth texture, you will also come across products with coarse grains. Also, the original hide is split into different layers. While the top layer with hair is called top grain (hair-on leather), the underlying layers are collectively known as split grain (tanned leather). For leather jackets and clothing, split grain of about 1.5-2 mm is used. Hence, most of the jackets have nearly the same thickness, irrespective of the source.

How to Clean Cowhide Leather?

If you list some good home investments, you simply cannot avoid cowhide leather furniture. They have a class of their own that is unmatchable. For any type of leather, proper maintenance is the key to make it supple at all times, and increase its durability. As we all know, dust and dirt accumulated in leather goods makes them brittle over time, which you do not want it to happen with your pricey jacket. Hence, to avoid such a case, follow simple cowhide leather care instructions that are given below.

• Being a product of animal skin, cowhide leather should be maintained healthy and moist. Always keep leather goods in a cool and well-ventilated area. Except for occasional drying, protect them from getting direct sunlight exposure.
• The next tip for caring for cowhide leather is to keep it in cloth bags, not polythene bags. This promotes air circulation and helps in keeping the leather moist. Likewise, cowhide leather should not be kept damp or wet for a long time.
• The actual leather care guidelines differ depending upon whether you have top grain or split grain leather. Top grain leather treatment is done with oils to give the best texture. It requires gentle cleaning and dusting to remove accumulated dirt.
• To clean hair-on leather, you can use a vacuum cleaner adjusted at hard-floor setting. This leather cleaning step should be done if you are cleaning hair-on cowhide leather after a long time. If required, comb hair with a soft-toothed brush to avoid tangling.
• While cleaning tanned cowhide leather, you can brush gently to remove dust and dirt. Moisten a clean rag, apply a saddle soap to it and clean leather by rubbing in circular motions. Clean a small area at a time.
• After cleaning a small section, rinse the area immediately with clean water. Also, remember to wash the rag thoroughly before moving to a new section. If it becomes dirty, change a new rag for further cleaning.
• Regarding stain removal from cowhide leather sofa or jackets, simply soak up the stain with an absorbent paper towel. For mold stains, you can use a diluted solution of rubbing alcohol. And to remove coffee spills or other stains, consider using dilute vinegar.

Whether you own cowhide leather bags or designer cowhide leather jackets, the leather care tips remain the same. After cleaning is over, air dry the leather in sunlight (avoid exposure to other heat sources). Then, give a finishing touch by applying a leather conditioner.