The quality of the leather jacket you invest in depends a lot on the type of animal skin it is made off and the tanning process. The most basic and common way of tanning is soaking the animal skin in some oil compound; after which the hide s scraped manually and is finally treated with some form of preservative; that we understand as tanning agent.
Common tanning methods include:
Vegetable Tanning
This is the ancient way of tanning animal skin. The substances used as tannins in the process are generally extracted from plants, trees and other vegetation. The greatest disadvantage of using vegetable tanned leather is that the material is not suitable for washing in water. It has a tendency to deteriorate when washed in water. Definitely a no no for making leather jackets!
Aldehyde tanning
In this case animal skin is usually treated with disinfectants and chemicals. Formaldehyde is a commonly used substance.
Chrome tanning
Chromiumsul fates are used for treating scrapped animal skin. The resultant material is genrally water resistant, plable and can be dyed in a variety of colors.
Brain tanning
The ecological and sustainable way of tanning leather! Brain tanned leathers are a product of labor-intensive processes. Emulsified oils extracted from animal brains are used as tanins. The fabrics are very soft and supple.