How to understand the difference between a full graincow leather and a corrected grain pig leather? Just follow this 3 steps and you should easily identify the type of the leather you are looking at:
Check if the leather is looking flat and even or corrugated and bumpy
If it looks bumpy, look no further, it’s a corrected grain pig leather. Tanneries use huge drums to remove the animal hairs and to adjust imperfections such as scars, hairs, skin moles and holes. Pig have lots of hairs and to make a corrected grain leather, you have to leave the skin in the tannery drum much longer than a cow full grain leather. So just look at it and look for obvious defects that are trying to be hidden.
Flat vs bumpy surface
Feel it, is it flexible and smooth or is it hard and more rigid?
A cow full grain leather is a premium leather. It’s made out of the part of the skin which comes with almost no defects, meaning, no scar, mole or any type of hole. It’s common to use the skin cover the bottom part of the animal. It’s a nice and soft part.
On the opposite a pig skin corrected grain leather must feel rougher, more rigid as the skin used is made out of a cheaper skin which comes with more defect.
Look for micro-holes in the leather
Corrected grain leather doesn’t always come from a cow. Often pig is used for corrected grain. The one thing you should´t find is a full grain pig leather. That doesn’t exist! Why? Simply because pig skin comes with long and thick hair that marks the skin. A good tip is to flip and to look on the other side for hair holes for example.
Corrected grain vs full grain leather
Conclusion
Doesn’t that mean that a corrected grain leather cannot be a good fit for a pair of shoes? Of course not, it’s just less premium! We use corrected grain pig leather for cheaper and more economical pair of shoes and they work just fine. Just don’t get foul and make sure that if you pay a high price for a pair of shoes, follow these 3 easy steps to identify a full grain cow leather from a corrected grain pig leather!