Veg Leather: The World's Most Premium and Eco-Friendly Material

WHAT IS VEG SKIN?

Veg-tan leather is short for vegetable-tanned, tanned with tannin - many documents translate tannin, tanning, a substance extracted from plants (so many people call vegetable-tanned leather raw leather), so it is very environmentally friendly, this is also the most natural and oldest way of tanning leather.

The interesting thing about Veg leather is that it is dyed from herbs, so it is very environmentally friendly and good for the health of leather users.

This tanning method has been used by humans for over 200 years. Thanks to this method, Veg leather has a very special characteristic: it has a mixed scent of grass and earth, along with an impressive transformation that is easily noticeable during use.

Veg Leather has a mixed scent of grass and earth along with an impressive transformation that is easily noticeable during use.

Veg-tan leather is hard, the leather surface is easy to create geometric lines, so it is suitable for sculpting and carving on leather. Nowadays, Veg leather is widely used in Asian countries, including Vietnam.

Conventional leather products are made with Chromium-tanned leather, a chemical that pollutes the environment and is not beneficial to human health.

HERBAL SUBSTANCES

Herbal substances are substances extracted from nature. They are compounds of cyclic organic substances. Mainly derivatives of Phenol or Naphthalene. Their main uses are first to firm, then to plump the skin.

The most important herbal substances are: Quebracho, Mimosa, Chestnut, Valonia, Myrobalan.

These substances, after extraction, are dried into powder form. However, they are sometimes sold in liquid form (lower content than powder form).

Image of a famous Veg leather factory in Italy

− Quebracho: extracted from the Quebracho tree in South America and used mainly for tanning sole leather. They create heavy and dark leather. Their molecules are large so they are difficult to penetrate deeply, so in the re-tanning part, they are only used in small amounts, when required to make leather that requires a hard surface, or clearly printed grain.

− Mimosa: produced from trees with gum in Africa, Brazil and India. Mimosa has small molecules so it is easy to penetrate and has a light color. They are widely used for the re-tanning of leather to make shoe toes. Mimosa leather is spongy and soft.

− Chestnut: Chestnut is extracted from the bark of the chestnut tree. The main sources are France, Italy, and Yugoslavia. Chestnut has a large molecular structure and gives the leather a dark color. They are used a lot to produce sole leather, but rarely used in the re-tanning section.

− Valonia and Myrobalan: These are herbal tanning agents with large molecules and give the leather a dark color, so they are often used for tanning sole leather and only used in small amounts for re-tanning face leather.

Herbal substances are substances extracted from nature. They are compounds of cyclic organic substances. Mainly derivatives of Phenol or Naphthalene.

After the vegetable tanning process is complete, the Veg leather is stripped of any remaining vegetable tanning agents on the surface, squeezed and covered to prevent the vegetable tanning agents from oxidizing.

Vegetable tanned leather is used to make shoe toes, upper or lower soles, bags, wallets, watch straps, briefcases... Depending on the purpose of use, vegetable tanned leather will be wet finished by different methods.

Veg leather is often used to make high-end leather watch straps. The strap will automatically hug the wearer's wrist, is soft, has a natural fragrance and is extremely durable.

Veg leather is usually dark in color, especially leather tanned with Quebracho Chustnet etc. If the leather is kept in its original color, its value will decrease due to the unattractive and unsuitable color, so the herbal leather needs to be bleached.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF VEG LEATHER

Advantage:

• Because it is tanned with natural tannins, the leather product is environmentally friendly, Veg leather has a very pleasant natural herbal scent.
  
  
• Products using Vegetable tanning leather are unique, no two products are the same, this is a highlight that excites users of Vegetable leather.
• Highly durable, even more efficient than most synthetic materials.
  
  
• Can last a lifetime and is biodegradable when it is no longer used for maintenance.
  
  
• The leather used is taken from cattle with good living environment and few scars.
  
  
• Craftsmen with high skills can completely engrave on Veg leather.
  
  
• Natural color during use.

Disadvantages:

• Veg leather is more valuable and therefore sells for a higher price than chrome leather.
  
  
• It takes quite a long time to produce, it can take up to 60 days.
  
  
• Easily leaves marks when in strong contact with metal or hard objects.