Leather is used in a wide range of applications, ranging from indoor walls to furniture and small household items. Its ubiquitous presence has kept people interested in this soft, sexy, mysterious and controversial decorative material. With a heart of awe.
Nowadays, more and more people are beginning to care about its environmental protection and sustainability, and are eager to provide special protection to rare animals. People are constantly thinking about solutions, such as continuously reducing environmental pollution in the leather tanning process and reducing water consumption. and doses of chemicals tannins and even using plants ( hemlock bark or oak bark) instead of chemical agents - "vegetable tanned leather" , which is an ancient method of tanning. Another example is to make artificial leather . Dip a layer of resin paint (such as polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride , etc.) on non-woven fabric or textile fiber cloth (such as nylon), and use offset printing to emboss the grain or texture of real fur. Effects and more. Let’s first learn about the various surface techniques of leather.
The surface treatment of leather is diverse. Like other materials, it can be polished, waxed, embossed, hand-carved, and digitally engraved. Among them, printed leather has become the darling of the fashion industry and appears in endlessly in various trend products.
○ Digitally printed leather
Digitally printed leather rarely uses real leather or the first layer of leather with obvious texture. Most of them use smoother artificial leather or the second layer (Nth layer) of genuine leather. What they have in common is that they both need Covered with PVC film , the strength, wear resistance, and cold resistance can be improved after coating, and the flatness of the surface can ensure the printing effect.
Currently, the mainstream leather digital printing on the market includes manual screen printing, eco-solvent inkjet and UV inkjet .
○ Hand-screen printed leather (seat back) @BAXTER official website
Hand-screen printed , using cow suede leather for chrome tanning (soaking the leather in a tanning agent containing chromium), and then using exuded aniline dyes the leather, then uses water-based pigments to screen-print the pattern onto the leather by hand, and finally uses resin and wax for surface treatment.
Eco-solvent ink is cheaper and the ink is integrated into the leather during the printing process. Compared with the UV inkjet solution, it can restore the true touch of leather in terms of touch feel. It is mostly used for printing on white and light-colored leather. The leather needs to be wiped with a coating before eco-solvent inkjet. After printing, it needs to be dried or naturally volatilized for a long time. The printing efficiency is relatively low and the color reproduction is poor.
UV inkjet uses UV printer to print leather. UV printers generally use UV soft inks to print leather inks. There are also a small number of people who use neutral inks based on the properties of the leather and the purpose of the leather after color printing. The UV inkjet solution has a simple process and is used for For color printing of dark leather patterns, white ink is used to cover the base and then printed with color ink. The printing color is accurately restored, the color reproduction degree is very high, and the price is higher.
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○ Chinese New Year Series Gucci Horsebit 1955 Series Mini Handbags
To welcome the New Year of the Tiger, Gucci once again interpreted the archive design of Vittorio Accornero in the late 1960s with a new perspective . Vittorio Accornero is an artist and illustrator who created the brand’s iconic Flora floral print. The tiger motif is a recurring theme in Alessandro Michele's creative series. In the 2022 Chinese New Year series, tigers appear together with other animals, forming a special landscape against the colorful background of green trees and flowers, demonstrating the creative director's deep fascination with the natural world.
○ Nappa top layer leather, also known as full-grain leather
Nappa is a full-grain leather that retains many of the textures and marks of the original animal skin. It has slight pigmentation and surface The texture is clear and the breathability is very good. Nappa is the top layer (first layer) of animal skin. It has a natural protective layer and is wear-resistant enough, so there is no need for artificial coating. It is very soft, light and comfortable.
full-grain leather is flexible and hydrophobic, and can be used for a variety of coating processes. It has the best wrapping ability and is the best material for armchairs, sofas, poufs, and bedsides.
○ Anti-suede (Nubuck), upper-grain leather
Nubuck generally lightly polishes the first layer of cowhide to soften it. The degree of polishing is not like that of suede leather , but the texture is completely lost, but all the texture is retained and the feel is slightly polished. The surface of velvet looks very much like the skin of elk , so it is also called "suede". At first, this new type of leather did not attract people's attention. It was not until the Duke of Windsor wore a pair of "anti-suede" Oxford shoes to visit the United States that the leather became popular.
○ NABUCK BLUE from Baxter in Italy The surface grains are polished evenly into a "velvet" shape, which is almost invisible. The original texture of the leather is usually made of lambskin, cowhide or buffalo leather. It is processed to form a matte and velvet effect. Suede leather has higher toughness and is more wear-resistant.
○ Smooth leather (Polish stone)
Smooth leather is full-grain leather that is fully polished, then chrome tanned and re-tanned, dyed with pure aniline, and finally protected with wax and oil to give it a brighter luster. and natural look.
○ Artificial suede (Alcantara)
Alcantara can be said to be born for environmental protection: it is a coated man-made microfiber fabric, composed of 68% polyester and 32% polyurethane, making it It has high stain and abrasion resistance and feels like a high-quality suede appearance. Perhaps this is why it is widely used by furniture and supercar manufacturers. Alcantara combines the advantages of good softness, elegant style, full color, durability and wear resistance, and easy maintenance.
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↑The MINI TOGO leisure chair of French Ligne-roset in the picture above uses Alcantara material.
○ Alcantara material in Lamborghini car
○ Goat leather imitation stingray skin (stingray)
Stingray skin is a very rare and valuable leather, and its name occasionally appears in very famous furniture brands, such as Italian Promemoria, this is the top high-end product in the furniture industry.
○ Promemoria Cassettiera '700 Drawer Cabinet
○ Promemoria Cassettiera '700 Drawer Cabinet
In 2002, Cassettiera '700 was conceived under the pen of Romeo Sozzi and quickly became an important product with historical significance for Promemoria. This chest of drawers is made of oak structure with bronze ball handles and is upholstered in manta ray leather (left) or ostrich leather (right). The drawers have leather pads inside. Cassettiera '700 e una Notte is upholstered in leather and fabric, with glossy bronze outlines and handles.
However, out of the protection of rare animals, people began to develop some artificial ones or use common livestock leather to imitate them, such as the above green goat leather imitation of manta ray skin.
○ Patterns laser-engraved on leather
Thick suede leather is most suitable for laser engraving. After setting up the engraving pattern program in the computer, you can engrave the pattern the designer wants on the leather as required.
○ Woven leather (Leather weave)
Woven leather is already one of the common leather surface treatment methods. It draws on the oriental bamboo, mat and hemp weaving techniques and is widely used in indoor spaces and furniture.
○ Italian Flexform Bangkok sofa stool
three-dimensional leather. First set up the pattern printing program on the computer, print and engrave the pattern on the rubber mat, then attach the soft leather to the rubber mat and sew according to the diagram. Stereoscopic 3D appeared Effective, they contain unique fire-retardant ingredients.
○ Acoustic leather (Acoustic leather)
Foglizzo's acoustic leather is a special perforated leather with 7 complex tones developed for its unique color acoustic properties. It can be applied to existing acoustic system spaces, such as home theaters and theaters, to create a professional acoustic feast for the audience.
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The first layer of skin has no film on the surface. It is the naturally growing epidermis of the skin, retaining natural pores and color. It has an extremely comfortable feel and strong toughness, as well as good breathability, and the texture can be clearly seen.
The Nth layer of skin Since the epidermis and most of the dermis have been peeled off, it is the remaining lower dermis layer. Although the toughness is better than most synthetic leathers, it does not have the best epidermis layer and the surface is rough. It must be used when using It is covered with a layer of PVC film, so the feel and breathability are relatively poor, and the toughness of the leather is reduced.
This article comes from IDEAFASHION
