History of leather jackets

Posted by houseofleather on October 10th, 2017

Probably the history of leather jackets is as old as human civilization.  The changes are witnessed in the manufacturing techniques as and when new technologies are invented the process of tanning.  Animal hides are used from time immemorial when man learn to protect himself from harsh weather conditions when clothes were not invented.  It is well known that cavemen in prehistoric time clad themselves using animal hides.  Hunting of animals carried out for various other purposes apart from getting meat for food.  Hunting was an essential medium of fulfilling various purposes such as food, hides for covering body and to serve various other works as a faithful servant.  One can observe various leather clothes and shoes, jackets in Egyptian Pharaohs.  Goat skin, deer skin, and snake skin are some of the popular leather skins known for human beings from long time.  Leathers purses are highly popular among ladies.  

Since we are talking about the leather jackets let us concentrate on that.  To prepare high quality ladies biker leather jackets various types of skins are used.  Some of them are antelope, cowhide, lambskin, sheep skin and goat skin.  They are procured from meat processing plants usually after removing meat the hides are sold to leather hide preparing companies.  Some companies involve in the cleaning and protecting hides.  These companies purchase from the meat processing companies.  Processing companies keep them in the barrels after removing meat stores these hides in brine solutions protecting them securely and safely.  

Significantly, more than the final stage of preparation, much importance is provided for the method of tanning the leather.  Companies depute experienced officers to purchase good quality tanned leather to manufacture highly popular leather jackets.  There are many famous brands known for their quality products dealing leather goods.  Based on the type of hides or skin tanning methods and time taken for tanning also vary.  People love to wear leather jackets as they provide warm and cozy feeling.  They are sorted based on their size, softness, type of skin, especially based on the weight as well.  

These are made to inhibit growth harmful bacteria before taking them for cutting and stitching.  Trimming and cleaning are the very first phase of leather jacket preparation.  Hairs, remaining meat, are removing by using lime water and chemical application.  Scrappers are fitted to machines allowing the skin to go through scrapping.  After that to remove lime present in the leather anti lime treatment is given.  Then it is allowed to go through enzyme treatment to remove the collagen present in the skin.  In the final round it is pickled using sulfuric acid.  Manufacturers use different chemicals based on the type of hides they collect from the meat processing units.  

Once they come from tanning units they are given a thorough washing and dried properly.  The roughness of the skin is removed by using band knife and it is made to have uniform thickness so that designing, drafting and stitching are made easy.  They are stretched further to avoid shrinkage after stitching.  They are made flexible and durable by applying various techniques best suited to retain the leather qualities.

About the author:

The writer is an expert in the field of Men & Ladies Fitted Leather Jackets with focus on Ladies Leather Jackets and Leather Jackets for Women