Leather Characteristics

The quality of leather depends on breed, gender, life of the animal, age and place where he lived, environmental conditions, farm and feeding. All these factors determine, therefore, the quality and structure of leather.
We can detect:

• BEEF: slaughtered animals within 4/5 mouths from 150/200 kg.
• BABY BEEF: male under 24 mouths and slaughtered on 650/700 kg.
• BULL: over 24 mouths. They can get up to 900/1200kg.
• STEER: castrated steer within 4 to 6 mouths. After 24 mouths he names Ox.
• SCOTTONE: female under 24 mouths that have never given birth. They are slaughtered on 550Kg.
• COWS: female that have given birth once and that are over 24 mouths.

Cows live till 18/20 years, but they are usually slaughtered when they are 6/8 years old and they give birth on average to 5 beeves. Like us, they have 9 mouths gestation. For this reason, the cow’s leather has a weaker fiber, is thinner and presents a grain leather with many imperfections.

Several problems could caused wrinkles and signs on leather, that are considered as defects.
The farm for example: the animal can pick up lesions on the enclosures usually made on wood or barbed wire, or he could get scratched on shrubs or prickles.
The farmers also could damage leathers: he could prick the animal with fork creating numbers of little goads and he could brand the animal, practice that is still used nowadays above all in South America. Lack of hygiene into farms bring to burns on leather due to urine and dungs.
The animal could be subjected to attack by parasites, as ticks and louses, or he could present little imperfections due to warts, and marks into leather.
The curing and the conservation of coarse leather could cause defects to his grain leather… because it is a natural and alive product that if it is not cured at the right time, he could be subject to damage.