A disclaimer about Leather

This is a section that I wrote for the care sheets that I pack with all my shipped orders, but I also wanted to place it here, for the ones that are new to buying leather.

For those of you who have a purchase history of buying high finished leathers, patent leather, or faux-leather, you may not be familiar with the expected experience of owning natural leather and what hide does as you give it life and love, so allow me to explain...

Leather shows a history of what it has experienced, from the animal it came from, to the human that gives it a second life. Veg tanned leather will patina as it ages. You may notice some areas get darker due to handling while others get lighter due to sun exposure. Chrome tanned leather doesn't patina, but you may notice other signs of wear and life. All leathers that aren't coated with layers of finish (leather makeup) will show the experience of skin, such as branding numbers, bites, scratches, markings, stretch marks, cuts, and creasing. You may notice leather gets darker and softer when you condition it, and dull or stiff when it's dry. All of the above is a normal part of the lifespan of leather and just shows that it once lived, is now being lived in, and was well loved in its first-life and second-life.

Leather is not meant to appear physically-perfect, because leather is skin. It is meant to be durable. Just like your skin, its pride is in the battle scars it adorns. And just like your skin, it has to be cleaned and conditioned, even more-so now that it is not part of a living animal. With the right care of routine cleaning and conditioning, leather lasts five times longer than other fabrics, and, depending on how you use the product, it can last you for decades of debauchery.

-Ray

Underground Leather

If you read this, I challenge you to hydrate your skin by drinking water and moisturizing with your favorite lotion. Remember to love the skin you're in ♥️