What do the Markings and Scratches Represent on my Leather?

When we see scratches on common products, we think that it’s not made of good quality materials. However, is it the same for leather goods or does the markings and scratches actually indicate that it’s a good quality leather? In this video, we will answer the following questions:

• Why are there markings and scratches on your leather products?
• Does the markings and scratches on your leather goods mean that it’s made of good quality leather?
• Should you still buy leather goods that have markings and scratches on them?

Let us know about your thoughts and questions. You can comment them down below or directly on the YouTube video. We’ll see you again next time. A quick reminder to be authentic, be leather-savvy!

TRANSCRIPTION / WRITTEN ARTICLE

Hi, everyone! This is Tanner with another practical tip to help you become leather-savvy. Today, I want to talk about the markings on the leather. You might have seen some leather products that have some markings and imperfections on them and you might be curious why it is there.

In my perspective, that’s the authentication stamp of your leathercraft being a good quality leather to start with. As you can imagine, leather comes from a living and breathing animal. It is exposed to life. The cow goes through bushes, sicknesses, illnesses, and different weather conditions (such as rain). All these things leave a mark on the animal’s skin and that’s what we see on the finished product. If you see these markings, it means that your leather is a full-grain, aniline, and minimally-finished product. It’s not corrected. This proves that it’s a good leather to start with because not all leathers can be made that way. Probably top five to ten percent of the leathers are clean enough to go with that type of finish. There are minimum imperfections to embrace in the finished product that’s why the tannery made that choice. So if you see those little tick marks, scratches, firebrands, or neck grains, that’s actually the quality stamp that will assure you that you just got good leathercraft. I love to see those things and I embrace that authentic look of the leather because it makes each piece unique. Nobody else will have the exact same item that you just had and I recommend for you to be comfortable and trust those markings and embrace those memories of life coming from the animal itself.

I hope this helps you understand leather a little better next time you’re shopping for leather goods.