Have you been hearing the term embossed leather thrown around of late and want to know what it actually means? How is embossed leather made? More importantly, perhaps, why is it made?
Never fear, for today we will be showing you a few key aspects of embossed leather including why you might want to emboss your leather and how to go about it.
What are Embossed Leathers?
Embossed leather is any leather that has been specifically affected to produce raised patterns on the natural grain of the animal's skin. Embossing leather can happen via a number of different processes, though in the modern age of mechanical reproduction, the embossing process is often enacted with an embossing machine.
Animal skins are imbibed with detailed information, either on the entire surface or on specific areas for artistic effect. The embossing plate, however it is powered, does a close search of the surface and commits its pattern to it.
What Influences the Embossing Process?
There are four key parameters that can gravely influence the embossing process as a whole:
- The amount of pressure that is used to stamp whatever it is into the leather - high pressure is going to result in a stronger and more durable emboss overall.
- The time that the stamping occurs for - the longer, the stronger.
- The temperature of the entire process - the hotter, the stronger.
- The moisture content of the leather - embossing into damp leather is clearer and also lasts longer. Can leather get wet? Yes, it can.
There are various things a company can do to enhance this process, many of which are industry secrets unto themselves.
Why Emboss?
There are a few key reasons why a manufacturer might decide to emboss their leather product:
1. Designs
Leather is often used for decorative purposes, and in this instance, they can even be provided with further designs than they otherwise bear on their skin.
The grain structure of one animal can even be coupled with the leather of another, for example.
The process has become incredibly adept, to the point where some experts even find it difficult to distinguish between the grain structure of the original animal and the embossed copy, or between distressed leather and leather that has been designed to look distressed.
2. Correction
Indeed, seeing as the grain pattern of another animal can be so artfully copied, the embossing process also serves another purpose. If there are, say, natural markings in leather that are deemed undesirable, then the embossing process can work its magic.
This is, after all, the skin of an animal. Stop to consider all of the scars and scratches the average human might incur over their lifetime and multiply that by an animal's lack of language with which to reason out arguments.
The embossing process is, thus, used to correct any so-called imperfections incurred throughout the animal's life while also reducing waste.
3. Conformity
For similar reasons, embossing might also be used to ensure that the pattern of a series of products is similar if not exactly the same.
This will ensure that there will be little to no imperfections, meaning that there will be no cause for complaint by the buyer.
All the parts of a set of furniture and car interiors will be more or less identical in terms of their graining. Through the embossing process, flaws and irregularities in the leather are balanced out and circumvented during the cutting and fitting process.
Last Words
So, there you have it!
Hopefully, we have been able to answer any of your burning questions, though as ever do not be afraid to let us know below if there is anything we were not quite able to cover here today.
FAQs Embossed Leather
Is croc-embossed leather real leather?
Sometimes, yes. Though leather might be embossed, it does not necessarily have a bearing on the validity of the leather. A lot of leather is embossed purely for the sake of conformity throughout a range of products, for example, or to rectify any so-called impurities that might be deemed undesirable. Thus, if your leather is embossed with crocodile print, it does not necessarily mean that it is or is not real leather.
What does snakeskin-embossed leather mean?
Embossed leather is any leather that has had a pattern impressed into its surface. This can occur for various reasons, whether to rectify any so-called imperfections that were deemed undesirable during the process of manufacture. Alternatively, leather might be embossed simply to imbibe a design onto its surface. Certain manufacturers have even seen it fit to emboss snake-skin print into leather, giving birth to snakeskin-embossed leather.
How long does it take to emboss leather?
The length of the process of embossing will invariably depend on the manufacturer, though can take anywhere from a day to several weeks. This will, then, depend on the attitude of the manufacturer and designer, how thoroughly they want to emboss the leather, and how much they will eventually look to sell the product for.
