Journal

Notes from Sabana Leather on Colombian leather and the people who work it: how Restrepo became Bogotá's leather district, what vegetable tanning does to a hide, and how to tell full-grain leather from the rest. Written by the Sabana Leather team. Browse the collection or see our flagship, the Sabana Crossbody.

  • Hands applying beeswax balm with a cloth to a tan leather strap

    How to care for a vegetable-tanned leather bag

    Caring for a vegetable-tanned leather bag takes little time. Wipe it with a dry cloth, keep it away from soaking rain and direct heat, condition it lightly a few times a year, and store it stuffed in a breathable bag....

  • The cut edge of thick full-grain leather, showing the dense grain layer over looser fibers, with a magnifying loupe

    How to tell full-grain leather from the rest

    Full-grain leather keeps the hide's whole outer surface, with its natural grain, pores and small marks. Top-grain has that surface sanded and coated. "Genuine leather" is usually a lower split layer, and bonded leather is shredded scraps glued together. Look...

  • A tan vegetable-tanned leather swatch beside a pale blue-grey chrome-tanned wet-blue swatch

    Vegetable-tanned vs chrome-tanned leather, explained

    Vegetable-tanned leather is tanned slowly with tannins from tree bark and wood; chrome-tanned leather is tanned in about a day with chromium salts. Veg-tan is firmer at first, darkens and softens with use, and needs keeping dry. Chrome-tan is softer...