Intro To Printed Leather By
Pelle Valore, Inc.

Pelle Valore, Inc.

35 Bloomingdale Road

Hicksville, NY 11801

www.pellevaloreinc.com

Leather Terms and Finishes

There are two basic types of categories:  FINISHED or UNFINISHED. 

Briefly, finished leather is first dyed via immersion in an aniline dye solution and then the outside face of the hide is coated with a pigmented resin.  Then a subsequent clear-coating is added.  Finished leather is protected by the color-coating and clear-coating.

UNFINISHED leather processing stops at the first dyeing process without any resin coating.  The unfinished leather is unprotected, not having either of the coatings listed above.

COMPARATIVE LEATHER WEIGHT VALUESPelle Valore, Inc. 

Leather is sold by weight (ounces/millimeters).

Below find a helpful guide to leather weights.

• Weight ~      Shirting .5 to.7mm  (to light to weigh in ounces)
• LL ~               .08 to 1.0 mm   or   2 to 2 1/2 ounces
• L ~                   1.0 to 1.2 mm   or   2 1/2 to 3 ounces
• LM~                1.2 to 1.4 mm   or   3 to 3 1/2 ounces
• M~                   1.4 to 1.6 mm   or   3 1/2 to 4 ounces
• HM~                1.6 to 1.8 mm   or   4 to 4 1/2 ounces
• H~                    1.8 to 2.0 mm   or   4 1/2 to 5 ounces
• HH~                 2.0 to 2.2 mm   or   5 to 5 1/2 ounces

Shirting~used for garments and can be used for belts, sml, handbags, hats, etc.

LL~used for handbags, belts, shoes, boots, lined sandals and some upholstery.

L~used for handbags, belts, shoes, boots, unlined sandals and upholstery.

LM~used for handbags, boots, upholstery.

All other weights can be used for handbags, belts, boots, work boots, upholstery, chaps, work gloves, work and work out belts or where heavy application is needed.

Stay tuned for more helpful leather information!