Why do you wear leather belts? Well, everybody knows that they polish the style besides holding the pants up. What type of leather your belt is made of? Is it genuine or full grain? Now even a so called “belt aficionado” would shrug! But it is essential you know these little things so that you end up always quality leather belts while choosing them. Here, we’ve come up with few guidelines to educate you about leather belts (men’s or women’s, doesn’t matter).
Ideal Leather for Belts
For belt making, the leather is obtained from farm animals including cows, goats, calves, and bison as well as from alligator, ostrich and crocodile. Leather from bovine or cowhide is the easily available and common while pig or hog skin is dense and pliable. Leathers obtained from ostrich, crocodile and alligator are used for high-end and luxurious belts.
Types of Leather Grains
Broadly speaking, grains determine the quality of the leather. There are generally four types of leather grain: Full Grain Leather, Top Grain Leather, Genuine Leather and Bonded Leather. Full grain leather is strongest and durable among them as it is extracted from the nearest part of the skin of an animal. Bonded leather has some parts of the original leather. Genuine leather is prepared from ground up leather patched together while top grain leather comes next to full grain in terms of quality and durability.
Do Full Grain Leather Belts Stretch As They Get Aged?
Since, full grain leather belts are strongest, consistent and thickest among all leather types, they are not stretched or cracked, doesn’t matter how old they are. Rather, they become more durable and pliable, and achieve a good finish at the same time.
Leather Belts and Your Budget
If your bucks can’t afford expensive full grain leather, just settle on a genuine leather belt to make the job done. They are not as durable as full grain leather belts; they are affordable and are long lasting. If you’re animal right activist, you must be happy with synthetic leather belts as they are made of polymers and fibers.
How to Check the Quality of Your Leather Belt?
Knowing about leather grains is not enough to choose the quality leather belt. All you need to test it at your own on some parameters. Starting from pliability, a good leather belt would be good on flexibility while the fake one would not be easily bent. On the other hand, the fake leather belt shines dramatically, feel like plastic on touch and smells like chemical.
So, this is all about leather belt textures and quality. What do you think? Let us know by commenting below!