When it comes to real leather there's more than just one type. Each grade of Leather differentiates from one another according to the layer of the hide, the tanning process, and any material combinations affecting aspects such as Durability, Appearance, Aging, Care, Quality and cost.

Credit: Inhome Design Co

Full Grain Leather

For high end, top of the line leather quality the Full Grain is what you want!

Full Grain Leather comes from the outermost layer of the hide, as it contains a dense amount of fibers. The fibers are what makes the leather obtain a finer grain. Known to be highly durable, most high end brands and leather producers use Full Grain Leather in their products. This leather tends to have natural flaws as only the hair on the hide is removed leaving marks on the material.

Full Grain leather will have a few imperfections within the leather and will have an inconsistent grain pattern. High quality leather should have some rough edges as well.

Full grain leather is the highest quality grade of leather that money can buy. It comes from the top layer of the hide and includes all of the natural grain. It is expensive for manufacturers to buy. This is reflected in the cost to the consumer.

As full grain leather ages, rather than wearing out, it burnishes and beautifies, developing a much sought-after patina and unique character that cannot be easily duplicated. The more you use it, the better it looks and feels.

Full grain leather is incredibly strong and durable, as the natural grain contains the strongest fibers in the hide. It’s also extremely breathable, resulting in less moisture from prolonged contact. Full grain leather can be more susceptible to staining, so ensure to protect your bag with leather conditioner and clean it right away if it develops an unsightly stain.

Top Grain Leather

This leather is also cut from the top layer of the hide and is very similar to the Full Grain Leather.

While the Top Grain Leather has no natural flaws as it has undergone a sanding process, this leather usually ends up being sanded down or buffed on purpose in order to remove any natural markings. The sanding process makes it easy to dye or shape the leather. Irrespective, Top Grain Leather is still high end leather.

Top grain leather is the second highest grade of leather and has the outermost layer of hide removed. This difference makes the leather thinner, which is reflected in the price compared to full grain leather.

Top grain leather is applied with a finishing coat that provides protection against stains that would otherwise stick right into full grain leather. However, the refinishing process of top grain leather greatly reduces the leather’s breathability, and also prevents the leather from developing a natural patina over time.

The downside of top grain leather is the loss of sanding off the strongest fibers in the natural grain hide. Because of this, it’s incredibly important to properly care for delicate top grain leather, as it can be more prone to noticeable scratching than full grain leather.

Genuine Leather

Absolutely not the finest leather but the lowest quality of real leather you can make. It’s a cheaper, more affordable grade of leather than the other two previously mentioned above. Genuine Leather can be cut from any layer of the hide and then goes through either a sanding or buffing process to remove any natural flaws or marks on the hide.

Split-Grain Leather aka Suede

This leather isn’t as strong as the Full Grain or Top Grain Leather, yet it still holds a valuable position in the leather world.

The Split-Grain Leather is cut from the lower layers of the hide. This leather gets its name from its cut, because the bottom material is used after splitting it from the hide. The leather material is very flexible, which is great as it permits more coloring and embossing options. Split-Grain Leather is also used to create the material suede. Its a high maintenance Leather and should always be kept away from Water and grime or Dirt.

Bonded Leather

Bonded Leather is often used as a way to describe a material that is made up of 10% - 90% of leather that is produced from several scraps of leather. Usually Bonded Leather is used as a filler material. The scraps are bonded together with either latex or polyurethane. With Bonded Leather the same quality isn’t always guaranteed like the other grades of leather. The reason is that each amount of leather varies completely with each Bonded Leather material. Bonded Leather is commonly reserved for furniture.