Natural Vegetable Tanned Leather
The aging process of natural vegetable tanned leather is a very enjoyable experience, and one that is highly appreciated by leather and raw selvedge denim aficionados.
Natural vegetable tanned leather is tanned using an age-old process that utilizes tannins and ingredients found in vegetation. Some ingredients can include extracts from tree bark, wood, leaves, fruits and roots, and the hide’s final color may vary in color, tone and darkness depending on the mix of materials used in the process.
Over time the tanned hide starts to take on a patina that is unique to the user. Sun exposure, daily handling, water, and conditioning give natural vegetable tanned leather a rustic look over time.
Our Classic Belt in natural vegetable tanned leather after 1 year of heavy use, sun exposure and light conditioning.
Our Waseda Long Wallet after 1 year of heavy use, sun exposure and light oil treatment
In Japanese the term for appreciating the unique, imperfect beauty of aged things is called Wabi Sabi. In English we might just say that these are things that “get better with age”, and the evolution of a product made of natural vegetable tanned leather embodies this spirit through and through.
Our natural vegetable tanned leathers come from the finest US, European and Brazilian tanneries, and each piece we create has it’s own special marks and characteristics that make it unique to the user.
We lightly treat many of our vegetable tanned products with neatsfoot oil to preserve it’s character and help with the aging process. You should not need to treat the leather as the oils from your hands from daily use will keep it conditioned. If you should need to treat it, use a light leather conditioner and do so sparingly. It is important not to over condition natural vegetable tanned leather as it may weaken the integrity of the leather itself.
On occasion we will set our natural vegetable tanned leather pieces out in the sun for several hours, which darkens them a bit, then rub on a bit of neatsfoot or our all-natural F&R Leather Conditioner before use. This darkens the leather and gives it light sheen.
Friday & River All-Natural Leather Conditioner
Our premium Leather Conditioner is a specially formulated blend of natural seed oils, lipids and beeswax, made to protect, preserve, restore and condition your leather.
We hope you enjoy the process as much as we do.
F&R