Leather can be finished in a variety of ways, or not at all. It is at the finishing stage that is determined what the leather is going to be used for, and in the case of motorcycle jackets and chaps, the grade of apparel from a protection perspective.

The oldest if not the original tanning method is Vegetable Tanning. Hides are treated with the barks of trees that contain the naturally occurring element Tannin, from which the term “tanning” originates.

Chrome tanned leather is soft and pliable, and is the most used method for treating the skins of cattle, pigs, goat and lamb. It produces a flexible, stretchable leather that is suitable for garments, and of course, leather motorcycle apparel.

The leather tanning process can be broken down into three stages: Preparing the hide for tanning, the actual tanning of the hide, and the finishing stage. While it used to take weeks or even months to tan a hide, today’s modern tanning processes have reduced the time and energy spent to a matter of days.

Over the years, a number of tanning methods have evolved. It was a stinky, environmentally unfriendly process that at times utilized dog feces, urine and brains. In Medieval times, tanneries were segregated and banished to the outskirts of town, the actual jobs being reserved for the lowliest of class.