I spend a lot of time working with vegetable-tanned leather, but I was interested in creating some chrome-tanned leather projects. I had a few questions that I had been thinking about for a while.
So I decided to try some of the techniques that I used on my veg-tanned projects on some chrome-tanned leather to see if I could get the answers to my questions.
Table of Contents
Does chrome tanned leather patina?
The leather’s patina is a slow-developing change on the surface of the leather.
The patina adds character to the leather’s surface and results from everyday things such as everyday wear and tear, care and maintenance, and exposure to the outside elements.
A patina is typical in high-quality leather.
The finish or top-coat applied to the surface will determine if the leather will develop a patina.
Chrome tanned leather constructed from full-grain leather develops a patina. Full-grain leathers are of the highest quality and contain all of the natural grains and imperfections that patina.
Chrome tanned leathers constructed from top grains are less likely to develop a patina. The top surface is sanded away, removing all of the natural grains that experience the patina process.
Several types of chrome-tanned leathers that experience a patina include Nubuck and Horween’s Chromexcel. T
echnically, Chromexcel is a combination-tanned or Re-tanned leather. Re-tanned leather refers to leathers that have been chrome tanned first and steeped in a vegetable tanning solution.
Re-tanned leather (or combination tanned) usually refers to leathers that have been chrome tanned first and steeped in a vegetable tanning solution.
Generally, re-tanned leathers have the soft characteristics of chrome tanned leathers, but they have some of the veg-tanned features such as patina and burnished edges.
Can chrome tanned leather be tooled?
Chrome tanned leather can not be tooled. During the tanning process, tannin molecules are introduced into the leather.
The tannin molecules replace the water molecules, and the replacement of molecules preserves the leather.
In vegetable-tanning, the tannins usually come from trees. The tannins that replace the water are enormous. The hefty tannins create a leather hide that is firm and handles tooling.
With chrome tanning, the tannins are chromium. The chrome ions that replace the water are much smaller than the vegetable tannins. The final leather product, in this case, is thin and flexible like human skin. The leather is too thin to take on the imprints involved in tooling.
Can chrome tanned leather be burnished?
Pure chrome tanned leather can not be burnished. The edges do not hold up to the friction required to create the burnish.
The most common finishes added to chrome tanned leather edges are edge paint or rolled edges. Edge painting and rolling edges is a common technique used for treating soft leather edges.
However, combination tanned (re-tanned) leathers such as Chromexcel can be burnished. Chromexcel horse front leathers tend to produce a nice burnish.
When painting and burnishing Chromexcel edges, it’s best to paint the edges first, then burnish the leather edges with either beeswax or paraffin. The wax will wear off after some time, so you will have to reapply it.
Can you stamp chrome tanned leather?
Crome-tanned leather can be stamped with a combination of heat and pressure. The best method for applying a stamp with heat is with a hot foil machine.
And the best method for using pressure to apply a stamp to chrome-tanned leather is with an arbor press machine.
How to harden chrome tanned leather?
Chrome tanned leather can be hardened by adding bonded leather, or stabilizers to increase its stiffness, thereby making it feel harder and less flexible.
For more information, check out my post that details how I harden chrome tanned leather.
How to dye chrome tanned leather
Chrome tanned leather takes most of the spirit-based dyes well. While it reacts a bit differently than on vegetable-tanned leather, it works just fine.
I know of a leather crafter that has been dying over pre-dyed chrome-tanned hides since the 1970s.
