Have you ever wondered about the price of leather ? Why do some leathers or leather goods cost more than others? The price of leather is determined by many factors: the hides origin and the quality of the raw material, the place of leather production, the leather production process.
The hides origin and the quality of the raw material
Indeed, the climatic conditions are more favorable, the animals are therefore less exposed to insect bites. In addition, breeding European animals allows growth at a natural rate, without growth hormones, thus allowing to have naturally strong hides.
This is less the case, for example, in South America, where animals are more exposed to insect bites, therefore with a lower yield of leather quality, but also with food with more hormones. The uniqueness of the tanner's trade is that the hides are purchased by weight, but the finished leather is generally resold per square meter or per piece.
As explained in our blog article on our eco-responsible approach, Radermecker tannery selects raw hides from targeted farms in Europe. This is essential to ensure that the saddle leather has a high fiber thickness and density for wear resistance, holding and the desired thickness of leather.
Rawhide selection also has cost. For upholstery or automotive use, an inexpensive rawhide with varons and scars, which will then be buffed, intensively pigmented and then pressed to reproduce the homogeneous grain of the leather, will be suitable for this use.
For saddlery, full grain and pure aniline use, the skin must be kept natural, without rectification or pigmentation in order to guarantee its resistance to friction and its ability to absorb and feed for an extended lifespan. For this purpose, a selection of heatlhy rawhide, unscarred and varons requires a selection.
Finally, bovine hide is the most used in the production of leather, bull hides are generally stronger and more robust. A selection of hides is made according to their grade, the quality of the grain of the leather. The number and location of defects also determine the quality and price of the leather. Full-grain leather is therefore the best quality leather.
The place of leather production
The place of leather production is an important element for the price of the leather. In Europe, health safety requirements are the highest in the world. Radermecker Tannery also attached importance to the management of its waste treatment when it moved into its new building in 2019, thanks to its new sewage treatment plant, for the treatment of waste water, which has a organic. Indeed, thanks to this treatment plant, we create so-called "biological" sludge that we can revalue with farmers for the spreading of fields.
In addition, the leather tanning mainly used in Europe is vegetable tanning, which is a natural process, but long, therefore more expensive. Leathers produced in Asia, for example, are generally of lower quality, not because their animals are different, but because they mainly use the chrome leather tanning method. This tanning is a quick process, therefore less expensive, and less respectful of the environment.
World leather production (source ITECH Engineering school) :
The leather production process
Transform rawhide into leather is a long process. We explain it to you on our YouTube channel “Leather production”. We have kept the traditional leather tanning method recognized by the certified craftsman label.
Diagram of leather cost price (average)
(source ITECH Engineering school)
