Leather Types and Quality
Vegetable-Tanned Leather: How It Is Made and Used
Vegetable-tanned leather is tanned with bark tannins over weeks to a year, not a day. How it is made, how it behaves next to chrome, and where it is used.
Vegetable-tanned leather is hide tanned with tannins from tree bark, wood and leaves instead of chromium salts. The tannins bind to the hide's collagen and make it resist water and bacteria. The process is slow, about 12 months at one UK oak-bark tannery against roughly a day for chrome tanning, and it gives a firmer leather used for belts, saddlery, soles and small leather goods.
This guide follows the hide through the tannery and shows where the result is used. It is part of our guide to leather types, grades and quality. For a short definition, see what is vegetable-tanned leather?; for buying whole hides to work, see vegetable-tanned leather hides: what to know.
Vegetable vs. chrome tanning at a glance
| Column 1 | Vegetable-tanned | Chrome-tanned |
|---|---|---|
| Tanning agent | Plant tannins from bark and leaves | Chromium sulfate and other chromium salts |
| Share of leather made | Part of the remaining 10-15% | About 85-90% |
| Time in tanning | Weeks to about a year, by method (see below) | About one day |
| Color before dyeing | Light brown; the color "tan" is named after it | Pale blue ("wet blue") |
| Handle | Firmer | More supple and pliable |
| In water | Discolors; shrinks and hardens if soaked then dried | Holds color and shape better |
| Shrinkage temperature (new) | 158-185 °F (70-85 °C) | Over 212 °F (100 °C) |
| Typical uses | Leathercraft, wallets, bags, belts, saddlery, soles | Shoes, car seats, upholstery |
Where the tannins come from
Tannins are plant polyphenols. Barks used today include chestnut, oak, hemlock, quebracho, mangrove, wattle (acacia) and myrobalans. Chemists split them into two groups, hydrolysable and condensed, and the group affects how heat-stable the finished leather is.
One UK oak-bark tannery stores its bark for at least three years before extracting it.
How vegetable-tanned leather is made
- Beamhouse. The hide is soaked, limed, unhaired and fleshed, then delimed, bated and pickled to ready it for tanning.
- Tanning. Hides either hang in pits of tannin liquor or turn in a drum. In pit tanning they move through liquors of rising strength; at one UK tannery that means about three months hanging in 72 pits. In drum tanning the liquor works through the full thickness as the drum rotates.
- Layering (pit method). At the same tannery hides then lie about nine more months packed with bark.
- Fixing. The more tanning material the hide takes up, the higher its shrinkage temperature, a measure of stability.
- Crusting and finishing. The leather is thinned, lubricated, dried and softened, then dressed, stained or finished for its job.
How long vegetable tanning takes
The figures come from different methods and eras, so ask how a "veg tan" was made: pit or drum, and how long.
| Method | Time in tanning | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1860s pit tanning, oak bark | 6-8 months (plus 2-3 for sole leather) | Historical research |
| Modern UK oak-bark pits | About 12 months | One tannery |
| Vegetable tanning as a retailer describes it | 30-60 days | Retailer |
| Chrome tanning, for comparison | About one day | Reference |
How vegetable-tanned leather behaves
- Firm and dense. Pit tanning produces very firm, dense leather, while chrome leather is more supple.
- Water-sensitive. Veg tan discolors in water; soaked and dried, it shrinks and hardens, which traditional shoemakers use to shape it.
- Heat-sensitive. In hot water it shrinks hard and can turn brittle. In a 2019 heritage-science study, new veg tan shrinks at 158-185 °F (70-85 °C), against over 212 °F (100 °C) for chrome.
- Changes with use. A Tuscan producers' consortium says veg-tanned leather matures with age and its tannin colors deepen with use, a change often called patina.
What it is used for
Vegetable-tanned leather is used for leathercraft and small items such as wallets, handbags and clothes. The UK oak-bark tannery above sells to high-end shoemakers and to saddlery and equestrian makers.
A US vegetable tannery's thickness chart shows the range, from linings and purses at 1-4 oz to belts and holsters at 8 oz and harness, saddle skirting and soles at 14-16 oz. Convert those numbers with our leather weight chart.
Is vegetable-tanned leather better quality?
Tannage is a method, not a grade. One US veg tannery tans every grade the same way, so its A and D hides differ in blemishes and yield, not tannage. The layer and the hide grade still decide quality; see leather grades explained.
Choose veg tan for firmness, shaping and a surface that changes with use. Choose chrome for suppleness and water tolerance. For a branded example, Horween's Essex is vegetable tanned with the same extracts as its shell cordovan; see what is Horween leather?.
How to tell if leather is vegetable tanned
- Ask for the tannage. A "Pelle Conciata al Vegetale in Toscana" tag means the Tuscan consortium's production rules were met.
- Look at undyed leather. Raw veg tan is light brown; raw chrome leather is pale blue.
- Watch a drop of water on an offcut. Veg tan tends to discolor where wet. Test only on scrap.
Tannage in made-to-order jackets
Made-to-order jackets from Leather Collection name the animal on each product page, but the category pages do not state the tanning method. Ask which tannage the hide uses before you order; chrome leather is the more supple of the two.
FAQ
Is vegetable tanned leather genuine leather?
Yes. It is animal hide made stable by plant tannins. "Genuine" describes no grade, so ask about the layer too.
Is veg tan leather expensive?
Its tanning is slower than chrome's, which takes about a day. For actual prices, see how much leather costs.
How to tell if leather is chrome tanned?
Undyed chrome leather is pale blue, and chrome leather holds shape better in water than veg tan.
LeatherGuru Editorial Team
LeatherGuru articles are researched from published sources, cited in the text, and reviewed before publication.