FED. TEST METROD STD. NO. 311
January 15. 1969
SECTION 3
DEFINITION OF TERMS

3.1 Scope. The definitions of general terms include some of those encountered by personnel concerned with specifications and procurement of hides, leather and leather products by the Federal Government. Terms adequately defined by unabridged dictionaries are not generally included.

3.2 General terms.

3.2.1 Alligator-grained leather. Leather of various types, such as calf, sheep, or cattlehide embossed to resemble the grain of alligator hide.

3.2.2 Apron leather. Any one of several varieties of leather used in connection with textile machinery and blacksmith aprons. Comber and Gill Box Apron leather is soft, mellow, tough leather, tanned from steer hide, heavily stuffed and boarded or otherwise softened. Rub roll apron leather is a flexible but firm, dry, strong leather.

3.2.3 Aspergillus niger. One of the most common mold growths found on leather, usually greenish or blackish in color.

3.2.4 Back. A crop with the head trimmed off behind the horn holes. (OZUF in figure 1.)

3.2.5 Bag leather (Also known as case leather). A general term for leathers used in traveling bags and suitcases. It does not include the light leathers employed for women's fancy handbags. The staple material for bag and case leather at present is leather made from the hides of animals of the bovine species, but heavy sealskins and goatskins are also used.

3.2.6 Barometer. A hydrometer used for determining the specific gravity of tanning solutions. A specific gravity of 1.000 is equivalent to 0° barometer (Bk), and each additional degree Bk is equivalent to an increase of 0.001 in Specific gravity.

3.2.7 Baseball leather. Leather used for covers of baseballs. The better grades of balls have covers of alum-tanned horsehide front leather. Some cheaper grades are made of kip and sheepskins.

3.2.8 Bate. To treat unhaired hides or skins with a warm aqueous solution of enzymes in order to remove certain undesirable nitrogeneous constituents.

3.2.9 Beam. A convex wooden slab sloping downwards from about waist height, over which a hide is placed for trimming off excess flesh and ragged edges and for unhairing by hand.

3.2.10 Belting butt. A double back with the tail cut off at the butt line. (RUT'S in figure 1.)

3.2.11 Belting butt bend. A double bend with the tail cut off at the butt line. (RR'S'S in figure L)

3.2.12 Belly. That part of the hide below the belly line. (VWP'P in figure 1) For steerhide leather, the belly line (RU) passes through a point at or above the top of the rear break, For cowhide leather, the belly line passes through a point at or above the top of the front break and a point not more than 2-1/2 inches below the top of the rear break.

3.2.13 Bend. A back with the shoulder cut off at right angle to the backbone line at the break of the fore flank. (OTR'P in figure L)

3.2.14 Biff. To beat a salted hide that has been placed on a rack, in order to shake loose salt from the hair.

3.2.15 Bisulfiting. The treatment of hot solutions of vegetable taming extracts with sodium bisulfite in order to increase their volubility and rate of take-up by hides.

3.2.16 Bleaching. (1) The process of removing oxidized tannins and insoluble materials from the surface layers of leather, particularly sole leather, in order to prevent crankiness of the grain and to improve color. It is performed by dipping the leather in a weak alkaline solution to render
the tannin readily soluble, dipping in water, neutralizing in weak acid solution, and washing. (2) The process of lightening the color of chrome leather by treating with synthetic tannins or precipitating white pigment in the surface of the leather.

3.2.17 Bleeding. The transfer of materials exuded from leather to other material that cornea into contact with it. It is usually designated as staining.

3.2.18 Blocking. The adhesion between touching layers of similar or dissimilar material, such as occurs under moderate pressures during storage or use.

3.2.19 Bloom. A light-colored deposit of ellagic acid appearing on the grain surface of leather tanned with certain pyrogallol tannins, such as myrabolans, valonia, and dividivi. The appearance may be objectionable for some purposes, but bloom does not significantly affect the other physical properties of the leather.

3.2.20 Blue. Usually in the phrase "in the blue". Applied to hides or skins that have been chrome-tanned but not dyed or fat liquored.

3.2.21 Boarded leather. Leather on which the grain has been accentuated by folding the grain side in and working the leather back and forth. Hand boarding is done with a curved cork board attached to the worker's arm and rolled over the folded skin.

3.2.22 Boardy. Adjective applied to stiff, inflexible leather.

3.2.23 Break. (1) Heavy leather - The places, in the area where the fore shank and hind shank join the body of the hide, where the texture of the leather changes quite sharply from the firm, close weave of the bend to a loose, open texture. (2) Shoe upper leather - The superficial wrinkling formed when the leather is bent, grain inward, with a radius of curvature like that formed at the vamp of a shoe in walking. Adjectives commonly used to describe this characteristic tight, loose, coarse, and pipey.

3.2.24 Brining. A process of curing hides by washing and soaking in a concentrated salt solution.

3.2.25 Brush coloring. The application of dyestuffs by brushing.

3.2.26 Buck sides. Cattlehide shoe upper leather finished to resemble buckskin.

3.2.27 Buckskin. Leather from deer and elk skins; used for shoes, gloves and clothing. Only the outer cut of the skin from which the surface grain has been removed may be correctly defined as "genuine buckskin". Leather finished from the split or under cut of deerskin must be described as "split buckskin".

3.2.28 Buffalo. Buffalo leather is made from the hides of domesticated water buffalo of the Far East, not the American bison.

3.2.29 Buffing. (1) Removing minor blemishes from the grain with a knife or abrasive. (See Snuffed top grain) (2) Producing a velvet surface on leather, usually with an emery wheel. (3) Buffing leather is a light cut of the grain portion used for bookbindings, pocketbooks, etc.,
but not for upholstery.

3.2.30 Bullhides. Hides from bulls are characterized by thick and rough head, neck and shoulders, and by coarse flanks. Bullhides are often poor in quality and heavy, ranging from 60 pounds up.

3.2.31 Butcher cuts. Damage to hides caused by improper removal from the animal. Damage is usually in the form of cuts or furrows on the flesh aide.

3.2.32 Butt. That part of the hide or skin covering the rump or hind part of the animal.

3.2.33 Cabretta. Skin of Brazilian hair sheep used principally for glove leathers. Term probably derived from Spanish "Cabrito", or similar Portuguese or Italian word. (cf. cape)

3.2.34 Calf leather. Leather made from the skins of young cattle from a few days up to a few months old, the skins weighing up to 15 pounds. Calf leather is finer grained, lighter in weight and more supple than cowhide or kip leather.

3.2.35 Cape (skin or leather). Skin of South African hair sheep. Fine-grain leather, superior to wool sheep for gloves and garments. Loosely applied to all hair sheep, but should be qualified to show origin, if other than South African. (Uncertain whether term is derived from "Caper" (Goat) or from "Cape Town".

3.2.36 Carding leather. A type of side leather used on the cards of textile machinery.

3.2.37 Carpincho leather. Leather from the skin of the carpincho, a large South American rodent. The skin is used in making glove-leather, usually chrome tanned and washable. In the glove-leather trade, carpincho is classified as a pigskin. It resembles pigskin in appearance, because of the occurrence of bristle holes in straight-line groups, usually with 5 but may vary between 4 to 7 holes in a group.

3.2.38 Case leather (Also known as bag leather). A general term for leathers used in traveling bags and suitcases. It does not include the light leathers employed for women's fancy handbags. The staple material for bag and case leather at present is leather made from the hides of animals of the bovine species, but heavy sealskins and goatskins are also used.

3.2.39 chamois leather. A soft pliable absorbent oil tanned leather which is recognized in this country and abroad as being made from sheepskin, from which the outer or grain side has been split prior to tanning, known technically as a flesher.

3.2.40 Chrome retan. Term applied to leather tanned first with chromium salts, then retanned with vegetable extracts.

3.2.41 Chrome retannage. Retannage with chromium salts.

3.2.42 Chrome tannage. Tannage of leather with chromium compounds. Chrome tanned leather is often distinguished from other kinds by its greenish color, particularly of a cut edge.

3.2.43 Cockle. A hard warty growth on sheepskin.

3.2.44 Callagen. The principal fibrous protein in the corium or derma layer of a hide or akin.

3,2.45 Colorado steer. A side-branded steerhide, not necessarily from Colorado.

3.2.46 Comber leather. A steer-hide leather, heavily stuffed and usually hand boarded, used in textile combing machines.

3.2.47 Combination tanned. Formerly, tanned with a blend of vegetable extracts. Today, tanned with two or more types of tanning materials such as chromium compounds and vegetable extracts, or chromium compounds and synthetic tanning materials.

3.2,48 Cordovan. Leather used from the tight firm shell portion of horse butts. Cordovan has very fine pores and a characteristic finish, and is very durable.

3.2.49 Corrected grain. (See Snuffed top grain.)

3.2.50 Country hides. Hides taken off by butchers and farmers. The quality is usually lower than that of packer hides because country hides are removed by less skilled hands and are not cured as well as packer hides.

3.2.51 Cowhide. Term specifically applied to leather made from hides of cows, although the term is sometimes loosely used to designate any leather tanned from hides of animals of the bovine species.

3.2.52 Crop. A side with the belly trimmed off. (00'P'P in figure 1)

3.2.53 Crushed leather. Chrome-vegetable retanned leather with the grain accentuated by plating or other process.

3.2.54 Crust. Used as so adjective or in the phrase "in the crust". Refers to leather that has been tanned but not finished

3.2.55 Curing. Treating raw hides or skins so as to minimize putrefaction and bacterial action, but to enable the skins to be wet back conveniently in preparation for tanning. (See Brining, Dry salting, Dry pickling, Green salting and Pickle.)

3.2.56 Curling temperature. The temperature at which noticeable curling occurs, when gradually heating a leather specimen in water.

3.2.57 Currying. A process of treating tanned hides with oils and greases to prepare them for belting, sole, harness leathers, etc.

3.2.58 Deep buff. The first cut or split underneath the top grain or machine buff on which no traces of the grain remain.

3.2.59 Deerskin. In glove leather, a deerskin tanned and finished with the grain surface intact.

3.2.60 Degrained leather. Leather from which the grain has been removed after tanning, by splitting, abrading, or other process.

3.2.61 Degras, moellon. The direct oxidized oil pressed out of sheepskin after tannage with cod or other oil.

3.2.62 Doeskin. Commercial term for white leather from sheep or lambskin, tanned with alum and/or formaldehyde.

3.2.63 Double-dressed. AC applied to chamois skins, with the grain removed and buffed or sueded on both surfaces.

3.2.64 Double shoulder. The fore part of the hide cut off at right angles to the backbone line at the break of the fore flank, with the belly cut off and the head cut off behind the horn hole.(R'UT'S' in figure 1)
3.2.65 Drawn grain. Shrunken, shriveled, or wrinkled grain surface of leather.

3.2.66 Drumhead leather. (See Parchment.)

3.2.67 Dry pickling. A method of curing skins from wool sheep with sodium sulfate and sodium chloride.

3.2.68 Dry salting. A method of curing hides in which the hides are first green-salted and
then dried.

3.2.69 Dubbing (Also Dubbin). A mixture primarily of oils and fats used for restoring fatty matter to military footwear in the field.

3.2.70 Electrified shearling. Shearling in which the wool has been straightened by a special process. (Also Electrified lambskin)

3.2.71 Elk leather. Trade term used to designate chrome-tanned cattlehide for uppers of work shoes, hunting boots, some children's shoes, and others requiring flexibility and durability. More properly, elk-finished cowhide. Leather from elk hide is more properly called "buckskin".

3.2.72 Embossed leather. Leather which has been ornamented with a geometrical or fancy design by heavy pressure in a machine.

3.2.73 Extract. A liquid, powder, or solid concentrate of vegetable tannin obtained by the extraction of tannin from natural sources.

3.2.74 Factory sole leather. One of the two principal types of sole leather. It is tanned and finished to have more flexibility and compressibility than finder's sole leather, and is more suitable for use in shoemaking machinery. (See Finder's sole leather)

3.2.75 Fancy leather. Leathers made from hides and skins of all kinds which have commercial importance and value primarily because of grain or distinctive finish, whether natural or the result of processing. Such processing may be graining, printing, embossing, ornamenting (including gold, silver, and aluminum finishes), or any other finishing operation enhancing the appeal of the leather.

3.2.76 Fat liquor. An emulsion of oils or greases in water, usually with an emulsifying agent, used to lubricate the fibers of the leather.

3.2.77 Fat wrinkle, Wrinkles in the grain of leather, caused by fat deposits in the live animal.

3.2.78 Fiberboard. A firm, but somewhat flexible, composition material in sheet form, made from new, long vegetable fibers. Used for counters, insoles, midsoles, and heel lifts. The term is often loosely applied to boards made from scrap material or short-fibered stock, such as chip-board, which has inferior physical properties in the uses mentioned. (See also
Leatherboard)
3.2.79 Finder's sole leather. One of the two principal types of sole leather. It has less flexibility and compressibility than factory sole leather and is more suitable for use in shoe repair. (See also Factory sole leather.)

3.2.80 Finish. Materials applied to the grain and sometimes the split surface of the leather to cover blemishes, create smoothness, and give uniformity of color and appearance which may vary from dull to glossy.

3.2.81 Flesh. The inner side of a hide or skin.

3.2.82 Flesher. The flesh split or undercut of a sheepskin, split before tanning. (See Chamois.)

3.2.83 Flint dried. Dried in air without other curing.

3.2.84 Formaldehyde tannage. Tannage used especially for white leathers and washable glove leathers.

3.2.85 French kid. Leather tanned from kidskin by an alum or vegetable process.

3.2.86 Frigorifico hides. Cattlehides from South American slaughtering and freezing plants, cured in brine and salted.
.
3.2.87 Frizing. In tanning Mocha glove leather, a process of removing the grain surface involving long liming for not less than a month, during which the elastic structure of the grain layer is destroyed. (Also Friezing)

3.2.88 Front. The forepart of a hide or skin. Particularly in horsehide leathers, the front is used for garments, baseballs, etc. It is the part left when the butt is cut off about 22 inches from the root of the tail.

3.2.89 Full grain. Having the original grain surface of the skin.

3.2.90 Gasket leather. (See Hydraulic leather)

3.2.91 Gill box leather. A leather used in textile machinery, similar to comber leather.

3.2.92 Glazed (Glace) kid. Chrome-tanned goatskin and kidskin leather, either black or in colors, which has a glazed finish.

3.2.93 Glove leather. Term covering two distinct classes: (1) The leather used for dress gloves (including those for street) riding, driving, and sports wear) made predominantly from sheep and lamb skins and to a lesser degree from deer, pig, goat, kid and Mocha skins. (2) The leather used for utilitarian or work gloves made from a variety of hides and skins of which the most important are horsehides, cattleshide splits, calfskins, sheepskins and pigskins.

3.2.94 Glove splits. Split chrome-tanned cattlehide leather used for work gloves.
3.2.95 Grain. The outer or hair side of a hide or skin. Also used as an adjective referring to that side.

3.2.96 Grained leather. Any leather on which the original natural grain has been changed or altered by any method, process or manipulation.

3.2.97 Green salting. A process of curing hides by treating them with salt on the flesh side and stacking in pile to cure for a period of ten days or more.

3.2.98 Grub hole. A hole through the hide caused by the penetration of the grub of the warble fly.

3.2.99 Gusset leather. A soft flexible leather used for gussets in shoes, bags, and cases.

3.2.100 Hair-on leather. Leather tanned without removing the hair from the skin or hide.

3.2.101 Hand buffs. A term used to describe upholstery leather of the same type as full top grain except that the surface of the hide is lightly snuffed or sandpapered all over. Such snuffing removes only the top of the hair follicles. (Also snuffed top grain, corrected top grain, top grain
snuffed.)

3.2.102 Harness leather. A self-explanatory term sometimes so defined as to include collar and saddlery leathers. Harness leather, including the related items mentioned, is practically all made of vegetable-tanned cattlehides except for a considerable quantity of pigskins used for making saddle seats.

3.2.103 Hat leather. Usually sheepskin or calfskin for sweatbands of hats. The grain splits of sheepskin are vegetable-tanned for this purpose.

3.2.104 Head. That portion of the hide from the snout to the flare into the shoulder.

3.2.105 Heavy leather. A somewhat indefinite term, generally understood to include vegetable-tanned sole, belting, strap and mechanical leathers made from unsplit cattlehides. Also refers to a thick side of leather.

3.2.106 Hide. The pelt of a large animal, such as cow, horse, etc. Also used interchangeably with skin.

3.2.107 Hide grades. Standard hide grades, take-up and delivery practice are given in the booklet. "Approved Standard Practice Governing the Take-Up and Delivery of Domestic Packer Hides", published by the Tanners' Council of America, 411 5th Avenue, New York 16, New York.

3.2.108 Hide powder. Purified, shredded rawhide used as a reagent in the determination of tannins. Standard hide powder is any of the hide power officially approved by the American Leather Chemists Association.

3.2.109 Hide substance. The nitrogen content of leather multiplied by the factor 5.62.

3.2.110 Horsehide leather. Leather made from the hide of a horse or colt. (See Cordovan and Front.)

3.2.111 Hydraulic leather. A collective term sometimes used for the cattlehide leathers (vegetable, chrome, or combination tannage) with special stuffing added, which are used in pump valves, as piston packing, and so forth.

3.2.112 Indian tanned. Combination tanned with alum and vegetable tannins.

3.2.113 India-tanned. Term applied to hides and skins from India, considered as a semi-tanned raw material and generally retanned in the U.S.A. before finishing.

3.2.114 Iron. A term used for measuring thickness of sole leather. One iron equals 1/48 inch (0.53 millimeters).

3.2.115 Iron tannage. Tannage with salts of iron.

3.2.116 Kangaroo. Leather made from the hide of the kangaroo.

3.2.117 Kid. Originally referring to leathers made from the skins of immature goats, the term is now rather loosely applied to glove and shoe leathers made from goatskins.

3.2.118 Kip. Skin from a bovine animal in size between a calf and a cow, weighing in green-salted condition approximately from 15 to 30 pounds.

3.2.119 Lace leather. A form of rawhide leather (from cattlehides) for lacing sections of power-transmission belts; sometimes prepared also with an alum and oil, chrome, or combination tanning.

3.2.120 Lambskin leather. Term applied to leather from either lambskins or sheepskins, which are practically indistinguishable after tanning.

3.2.121 Larrigan leather. Oil-tanned light cattlehides, used largely for moccasins.

3.2.122 Latigo leather. A type of lace leather, alum and vegetable tanned, used in saddlery.

3.2.123 Leatherboard. A type of fiberboard in which the fiber content is at least 75 percent leather, usually with asphaltic or resinous binder.

3.2.124 Levant. Term applied to goatskin on which the grain pattern is accentuated in tannage. Goatskin embossed to give a Levant pattern is properly described as "Levant-grained goatskin". Sheep, seal, and other skins bearing this pattern should not be described as "Levant leather" but as "Levant-grained sheepskin, " etc.

3.2.125 Lining leather. Any leather used for making shoe linings, which includes sheep, lamb, kid, goat, cattle, calf, and splits.

3.2.126 Load. The amount of nonprotein material in vegetable-tanned leather.

3.2.127 Loading. The addition of glucose, magnesium sulfate, or other materials to give leather the physical properties needed for working in modern shoe machinery. (Also known as Filling or Stuffing.)

3.2.128 Machine buffs. That cut of the hide from which a buffing of approximately 1/64 inch (one ounce) in thickness has been removed from the grain. This should leave a portion of the grain on almost the entire hide.

3.2.129 Manufacturer's leather. (See Factory sole leather.)

3.2.130 Matadero hides. Hides from Argentina corresponding to city butcher or smaller packer hides of the united States

3.2.131 Mechanical leather. A collective term for many types of leather used in connection with textile and other machinery.

3.2.132 Meter leather. A speciality leather made mainly from sheepskins treated to make it impermeable and used for the measuring bags of gas meters.

3.2.133 Mineral tanned. Tanned with chemical compounds of mineral origin, (chromium, zirconium or alum compounds) without the use of vegetable tanning materials.

3.2.134 Moellon. (See Degras.)

3.2.135 Morocco grain. Vegetable-tanned fancy goatskin leather having a distinctive pebbled grain.

3.2.136 Morocco leather. Vegetable-tanned fancy goatskin leather having a distinctive pebbled grein,

3.2.137 Mouton. A sheepskin shearling tanned end finished for use as a fur; usually with wool straightened.

3.2.138 Mukluk leather. Leather usually made from deer, elk and similar skins. It is tanned white with formaldehyde slam or syntans. It is very permeable to moisture vapor and retains its flexibility at low temperatures.

3.2.139 Napa leather. Chrome, alum, or combination tanned sheepskin glove leather, drum colored.

3.2.140 Native hide. A cattlehide without a brand.

3.2.141 Oak tannage. Originally, the tannage of leather entirely (or nearly so) with oak bark, later the tannage with a blend containing oak tannin. Now loosely applied to any tannage of heavy leather with vegetable extracts.

3.2.142 Offal. Parts of hides not used for standard grades of outsole leathers; the heads, shoulders, and bellies of heavy leather.

3.2.143 Oiling off. Coating the surface of leather with oil.

3.2.144 Oil tannage. Tannage with cod oil or other oxidizing oil, usually of marine origin.

3.2.145 Ooze. Traditionally refers to a nap produced on vegetable-tanned leather. Also refers to other tannages sueded or napped on the grain side.

3.2.146 Ounce. A term used to indicate weight or substance of certain kinds of leather (such as upholstery, bag, end case leather). In theory it la based upon the assumption that one square foot of leather will weigh a certain number of ounces and will uniformly be of certain thickness;
hence, a three-ounce leather theoretically would be one square foot of leather weighing three ounces. In practice, this varies because of specific gravity of tanning materials used and for that reason a splitter's gauge has been adopted which controls the commercial thickness of leather when sold by the square foot. An ounce is equivalent in thickness to 1/64 inch = 0.0156 inch = 15.6 mils = 0.4 millimeters.

3.2.147 Pac leather. Highly water resistant leather used by lumber men, hunters and others for outdoor use.

3.2,148 Packer hides. Hides from meatpacking houses.

3.2.149 Packing leather. (See Hydraulic leather.)

3.2.150 Parchment. Traditionally alum-tanned sheepskin or slunk used for special documents, drum heads, lamps, etc.

3.2,151 Patent leather. Leather with a glossy impermeable finish produced by successive coats of drying oils, varnish, or synthetic resins.

3.2,152 Pebbled grain. An embossed-leather grain finish resembling a pebbled surface, ranging from fine pebbled Morocco goat to heavy Scotch grain upper leather.

3.2.153 Peccary. A wild boar found in Central and South America. The skin is usually chrome tanned and shaved to light weight for glove leathers. It is distinguishable from pigskin and Carpincho skins by the fact that bristle holes occur in straight line groups of three.

3.2.154 Pelt. A raw skin with the hair on. Usually refers to fur animals.

3.2.155 Persians. India-tanned hair sheepskins.
3.2.156 Picker leather. Leathers used for pickers in textile machinery, and having a wide range of properties. Some are hard rawhide buffalo leathers, others glycerine-treated rawhide and still others belting leather.

3.2.157 Pickle. To treat unhaired hides with a solution of salt and acid in order to prepare them for tannage or for temporary preservation until they reach the tannery.

3.2.158 Pigment-finished leather. Leathers finished with compounds containing opaque pigments which more or less conceal the grain pattern. Split leathers are often finished with pigments and embossed to simulate grain.

3.2.159 Pigskin. Leather made from the skins of pigs or hogs. In the glove leather trade "Pigskin" includes peccary and carpincho.

3.2.160 Pin Seal. Natural grain sealskin tanned for fancy leather. Imitations on other skins should be described as "pin-grain sheepskin", "pin-grain goatskin", etc.

3.2.161 Pipyness. Characteristic of loose grain leather which forms coarse wrinkles on bending with the grain inward.

3.2.162 Plating. Pressing leather with a heated metal plate, usually smooth, under high pressure.

3.2.163 Pocket-shaped. As applied to chamois skins, a skin trimmed in the form of a rectangle with the two corners at one end rounded.

3.2.164 Quebracho. A tanning material extracted from the wood of a South American tree.

3.2.165 Rawhide. Cattlehide that has been dehaired, limed, often stuffed with oil or grease, and has sometimes undergone other preparation, but has not been tanned. It la used principally for mechanical purposes, such as belt lacings, loom pickers, gaskets, pinions, gears, and for hand luggage, shoe laces, snow shoes, etc.

3.2.166 Raw streak. An untanned center layer of leather, visible in cross section as a light-colored streak, especially as applied to heavy leather.

3.2.167 Reconstituted leather. Mineral composed of collagen fibers, obtained from macerated hide pieces, which have been reconstructed into a fibrous mat.

3.2.168 Retan. A modifying secondary tannage applied after intermediate operation following the primary tannage.

3.2.169 Rigging leather. A strong, flexible, vegetable-tanned leather.

3.2.170 Roan. A sheepskin, not split.

3.2.171 Roller leather. Vegetable-tanned sheep or calfskins used for cots or covers on the upper rolls of cotton-spinning machinery.

3.2.172 Rolling. A tannery operation in which the grain surface is compressed and smoothed under pressure by rollers.

3.2.173 Rough, rough tanned, in the rough. Terms applied to cattlehide leathers tanned but not finished. (See Crust.)

3.2.174 Russet. A term of varied meaning in the leather trade, since it connotes both color and tannage. Russet calf is the natural color of unfinished calf leather resulting from tannage by vegetable extracts. Russet harness is a completely finished leather of bright, clean, uniform color and finish. Russet sheepskin originally was leather tanned in cold-leached hemlock bark, used for shoe linings, with color resulting from the hemlock; now sheepskin colored as though tanned by vegetable extracts. Russet upholstery is leather tanned but not finished.

3.2.175 Russia leather. Originally a Russian calfskin shoe leather distinguished by its odor of birch oil. Now in the U.S. A., a fancy leather.

3.2.176 Saddle leather. Vegetable-tanned cattlehide leather for harness and saddlery, usually of a natural tan shade and rather flexible.

3.2.177 Saladero hides. Argentinean hides corresponding to small-packer hides in the U. S. A.

3.2.178 Salt stain. Discoloration on the surface of hides and skins, developed during the curing process.

3.2.179 Scotch grain. A pebbled pattern embossed on cattlehide or calf leather.

3.2.180 Scud. Remnants of epithelial tissue, hair, dirt, etc., left in the hair follicles after unhairing.

3.2.181 Scudding. Removal of scud from unhaired hides by scraping with a blade, either by hand or machine.

3.2.182 Shank. Leg portion of hide pattern (See figure 1)

3.2.183 Sharkskin. Leather made from the top grain of the skins of sharks. It has various natural grain markings. The term should not be applied to leather made from other skins and embossed.

3.2.184 Shearling. Leather made from sheepskins with the wool on. This is sheared to the desired length shortly before slaughter. The short wool is left on the skin when tanned.

3.2.185 Shell. A portion from the butt end of a horsehide, from which leather is of tight, firm fiber structure. (See Cordovan)

3.2.186 Shoulder. Half of a double shoulder. The fore part of the hide, cut off at right angles to the back bone line at the break of the fore flank, with the belly cut off and the head cut off behind the horn holes. (R'UZY in figure 1)

3.2.187 Shrinkage temperature. The temperature at which measurable shrinkage occurs when leather is gradually heated in air or in a fluid (usually water). Wet shrinkage is called hydrothermal.

3.2.188 Side. A side is half a hide cut along the back bone line with the tail not more than 6 inches long. (00'WV in figure 1)

3.2.189 Side leather. Shoe upper leather made from the grain side of cattlehides. The name comes from the practice of cutting the hide along the backbone into two sides before tanning. The skins are usually shaved on the flesh side to uniform thickness and the grain is corrected.

3.2.190 Skin. The pelt of a small animal, such as a calf, pig, sheep, etc. Also used interchangeably with "hide."

3.2.191 Skiver. The grain split of a sheepskin used for hat sweatbands and mall leather goods.

3.2.192 Skiving. Cutting off a thin layer of leather to bring it to uniform thickness.

3.2.193 Slab. (1) See Split. (2) In belting leather, the parts of a bend left after the centers are cut out.

3.2.194 Slack tannage. (1) Incomplete tannage. (2) Light tannage, deliberately leas than usual.

3.2.195 Slats. Dried, untanned sheepskins with little or no wool.

3.2.196 Slunk. The akin of an unborn or prematurely born animal, especially calf. It has various natural grain markings. The term should not be applied to leather made from other skins and embossed.

3.2.197 Snuffed top grain (top grain snuffed). Portions of the grain surface lightly abraded with emergy wheel or sandpaper, so as to lessen the effect of grain damage.

3.2.198 Sole leather butt bend. A double bend. (PR'S'T in figure 1)

3.2.199 Spew. Any constituents of leather that come to the surface in the form of a white crystallized deposit or a dark gummy deposit. (Also Spue)

3.2.200 Split. A term used to describe the portion of hide or skin, split into two or more thickness, other than the grain or hair side. Splits are usually named according to their sequence of production, such as "main," "second," or "slab" split (in case of upholstery leather); or for the use to which they are to be put, such as "flexible" (for innersoles), "glove", waxed (for cheap shoe-uppers); "bag and case" (finished with pyroxylin or pigment finish), "sole", etc.
3.2.201 Splitting. (1) Cutting leather into two or more layers. (See also Upholstery leather) (2) Cutting a hide into two sides preparatory to tanning.

3.2.202 Spready hide. A hide of large area in proportion to the weight.

3.2.203 Steerhide. (see Hide grades)

3.2.204 Strap bellies. Thin, light-weight, vegetable-tanned cattlehide bellies, rather flexible and with low load, processed for the strap trade.

3.2.205 Stuffing. The process of incorporating grease in leather by drumming the wet leather with warm molten grease and oils.

3.2.206 Sulfite cellulose. A by-product of paper mills, produced in sulfating wood pulp, used as a tanning material more correctly named lignosulfonate since it does not contain cellulose.

3.2.207 Syntan. A synthetic organic tanning material.

3.2.208 Table dyeing. The application of dyestuff to leather with a brush, the leather being laid on a table. (also called Brush coloring)

3.2.209 Table run. Used to describe leather that has not been sorted and graded before selling by the tanner. (also Tannery run, or T.R.)

3.2.210 Tannen run. (see Table run)

3.2.211 Tawing. The old English term applied to the process of making leather with alum as distinguished from tanning which was originally confined to vegetable tanning.

3.2.212 Top grain. The grain side of a hide from which nothing except the hair and associated epidermis have been removed by reduction to a specific thickness by shaving, splitting, or other means.

3.2.213 Trim. The removal of parts of a raw hide not suitable for making leather, such as portions from the outer edges of heads, shanks and bellies.

3.2.214 Upholstery leather. A general term for leather processed for use for furniture, airplanes, busses, and automobiles. The staple raw material in this country consists of spready cattlehides, split at least once and in many cases two or three times. The top or grain cuts go into the higher
grades and the splits into the lower grades.
.
3.2.215 Valve leather. (see Hydraulic leather)

3.2.216 Vat dyeing. The application of dyestuffs to leather by the immersion of the leather in a revolving drum containing the dyestuff solution, as contracted with "Table dyeing."

3.2.217 Veal. A large calfskin, almost as large as kip.

3.2.218 Vegetable tanning: The conversion of rawhides into leather by treating with water solution of tannin extracted from materials of vegetable origin.

3.2.219 Veiny. Appearance of leather characterized visible blood vessels mostly on the flesh side, either closed or cut open by buffing or shaving operation.

3.2,220 Vellem. (see Parchment.)

3.2.221 Wallaby. Leather from skin of the wallaby, a small or medium sized species of kangaroo.

3.2.222 Walrus. Leather from the hides of walrus. Walrus hide is very thick and is used for buffing wheels. When split, it is used for bag leather. Split walrus and seal leather are practically Indistinguishable, and "walrus leather" in the travelling-goods industry is used to refer to sealskin leather on which a simulated walrus grain is embossed.

3.2.223 Welting shoulder. The shoulder portion of vegetable-tanned cattlehide leather, tanned with a low load to give the flexibility required for a welt.

3.2.224 White weight. The weight of limed and unwashed stock.

3.2.225 Willow. (1) Willow grain - refers to boarded leather. (2) In the sporting goods industry, Willow tanned is used to indicate flexible, well-oiled, chrome-tanned cattlehide or horsehide uses for gloves.

3.2.226 Window. In a chamois akin, a thin portion that transmits light when the akin is viewed against a window or light background.

3.2.227 Woolskin. Sheepskin with the wool on.

3.2.228 Wrinkle. A permanent crease or furrow on the grain surface of a hide or leather, incapable of removal by rolling or plating.