Benefits and Beauty of Vegetable Tanned Leather
A study in contrasts: At left is a new apron strap made from vegetable tanned leather. At right is a veg tan leather strap that with age and use has softened and developed a rich brown patina while remaining strong.
All of our products at Leather By Dragonfly are handcrafted from leather of the highest quality. As you peruse our shop, you’ll notice that some items, such as our Leather Coin Cash Card Carrier, are made from veg tan leather, or vegetable tanned leather.
What is veg tan leather?
Veg tan leather is an attractive, sturdy, naturally tanned leather that holds its shape and is light-weight after oiling. Veg tan leather can be tooled, stamped and molded.
With age comes more beauty. Veg tan leather will soften and develop a rich brown patina unique to that piece — while remaining strong.
How is veg tan leather made?
Tanning is the process of treating skins and hides to produce leather. Veg tan leather usually is made with bark extracts or plant leaves — a detailed, traditional process that dates back thousands of years.
The tannins in the bark or leaves contain phenol, an organic compound needed for tanning leather.
How does veg tan leather differ from other leather?
A popular method of tanning is chrome tanning, which uses chromium. It is faster than veg tanning and produces a stretchable leather suitable for garments. Vegetable tanned leather is sturdier, making it an excellent choice for accessories or items.
What do we use veg tan leather for at Leather By Dragonfly?
We make our Leather Coin Cash Card Carrier from top-quality Hermann Oak veg tan leather, tanned in Missouri.
Veg tan leather also is an option for our Leather Passport Cover and Field Notes Memo Cover.
Veg tan leather’s sturdiness makes it perfect for our Sidekick XL side carry leather pouch.
As you can see in the photo at the top of this blog post, we also use veg tan leather for straps on our leather aprons: