Alcantara – Alcantara is not a type of leather. It’s a synthetic manmade material just like a fabric, but Alcantara is an Italian trade or brand name for a microfiber fabric. Alcantara is made up of 68% polyester and 32% polyurethane;
this enabled the products to have increased durability and stain resistance properties. It has a look and feel just the same as suede, which originated in Japan. Alcantara is also known as "Ecsaine" in Japan; as “Ultrasuede”, “Sport suede”,
or “Artificial suede” in the U.S.; and “Corbin” in Brazil.
Aniline Leather – Aniline leather is the highest grade and most natural of all leather types and is colored with soluble aniline dyes. Aniline leather doesn't have a pigment finish but has a porous smooth finish. The natural
texture of the animal skin is clearly visible, so aniline leather is usually classed as high-grade and with a price to match. The lack of a pigmented color layer on the surface means that aniline leather feels natural, silky, soft, and warm
to the touch.
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Leather – Leather is a natural product and is intertwined collagen fibers (protein); the density of the intertwining varies from species to species. Density can differ significantly in an animal’s skin. The most common animal
species for automotive leather is predominantly from cows, the hide of which is essentially a by-product from beef farming.
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Nubuck – Nubuck is a top grain cattle leather that’s been sanded on the grain side to produce a velvet feel and touch to the material. The sanding process gives a short nap to the short protein fibers. The roughening with
an abrasive gives the leather a velvety surface. The leather is therefore very soft and has good breathability. The disadvantage of this surface is a markedly increased sensitivity to stains and soiling. The UV resistance is also
significantly reduced and therefore tends to fade. Nubuck and suede also have a higher risk of dye transfer. It is also referred to as “Top Grain” leather.
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Pigmented Leather – Pigmented leathers don’t have that silky soft feel and touch that you get with aniline leathers; this is due to the painted surface that’s applied to preserve the skin. Pigmented leather’s primary goal is to
provide protection and make leather last longer. Pigmented leather provides protection against wear, stains, moisture, color loss, tears, and much more, and can also be known as finished leather.
To make leather more durable, more stain-resistant, and permanently water-repellent, a layer of a binder-pigment-mixture is applied to the surface of smooth leather that has already been completely pre-colored with aniline dyes. This color coat
is also called finish or pigmentation.
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Semi-Aniline Leather – Semi-aniline leather is leather that is only slightly pigmented with a color layer. The natural leather grain and the hair pores are not concealed by the pigmentation.
Smooth Leather – Smooth leather is leather without a color layer. It is also called aniline leather. Smooth leather can have many different aspects to it; it can be matte, gloss, it can also be colored over pigmented
or left as a porous material aniline. Smooth leather is any type of leather; it describes the visible grain side of the skin. The top is always called a smooth leather; even embossed skins are called a smooth leather.
Split Leather – Split Leather is created from the corium that’s left once the top grain has been split from the hide. Certain surfaces are covered in imitation leather and then topped with a thin hide of pigmented leather from the
split. Some surfaces that have less contact in a vehicle – for example, dashboards and door card infills – are processed with split leather.
Suede – Suede is the reverse side of the skin; the inside of the animal being used and much lower down the hide compared to Nubuck. With most suedes, the skin is split to ensure a fine finish to the grain that is left. In
contrast to the very velvety nubuck, suede is significantly rougher as it is sanded on the reverse side of the hide compared to nubuck, which is sanded on the grain side of the hide.
Synthetic Leather – Officially, this cannot be called leather as it is an imitation product. Imitation leather, as the name suggests, is a material that looks like leather but cannot be declared as such, because it is not leather
as defined in official standards. There are many expressions for imitation leather – faux leather, fake leather, leatherette, artificial leather, man-made leather, pleather, and skai are just some of them. Synthetic leather can also be
referred to as "Vegan Leather" (see next entry).
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Vegan Leather – Vegan leather is another term for "synthetic leather".
Vegans are people who do not consume food or use products derived from animals. This includes meat and fish, as well as dairy products, eggs, and honey. Therefore, leather, down, silk, and animal wool are also ethically unacceptable to vegans,
so some car manufacturers describe vehicle interiors as having "vegan leather". This is synthetic leather.
A number of countries have now declared it illegal to use the term vegan leather if the material is not classified as true vegan leather (isn't made with and doesn't contain any animal by-products). The only company allowed by law in those countries
to call it "vegan leather" is the company in China that produces Piñatex. Piñatex is created by felting the long fiber strands of pineapple leaves together to create a non-woven substrate. It has been said that it has a much softer, more
pliable finish than other synthetic leathers, but one issue with it is that it is not biodegradable.
Special thanks to Colourlock and Leather Repair Company for their assistance on the compilation and definition of leather terms.
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