Cow leather and buffalo leather are highly in demand raw materials for a wide range of applications. Though they are used interchangeably in many cases, there are a lot of differences between these two leathers, which you must know in order to take informed decisions when it comes to choosing the right material for your exact needs. This will make sourcing leather from cow leather manufacturers an easy job. So, here are the differences between cow leather and buffalo leather.
Do you know what you are buying?
To begin with, you must first understand the animals rightly to be able to make the right purchase. In several cases, the terms buffalo leather and bison leather are used interchangeably since these names are also applied to both these species interchangeably in different geographies.
Therefore, when you source your raw material, you must know what you are asking for and if the folks are selling you what you are asking for. Do some reading to understand the differences between bison in the US contest and buffalo in the Asian context. This is necessary to make the right choice. When you have come this point of understanding, now it is time to compare between cow leather and buffalo leather.
How they are processed
Processing of cow leather and buffalo leather follows the traditional methods and is done by skilled artisans. However, modern processes have come into the tanning of cow leather using chemicals. On the other hand, tanning of buffalo leather still happens using organic materials. Also, during the tanning process, the bison leather is not stretched usually.
What their strengths are
Analyzing its natural state, it is not necessary that the bison leather is stronger than the cow leather. They are similar in strength and elasticity and are easily obtainable animal hides in the world today. Nevertheless, you must know that the strength of the cow leather or buffalo leather is determined by the grade of the leather and the thickness of the hide. As mentioned earlier, buffalo leather is not stretched much during the tanning process as done in the case of cow leather. Therefore, for all practical purposes, we can say buffalo leather is the stronger among the two.
Quality and appearance
The same way of grading namely top-grain or full-grain can be applied to both cow leather and buffalo leather. With regard to the size of the hide, buffalo leather is usually smaller in size when compared to cow leather even though the animal is much bigger than a cow since cow leather is considerably stretched.
If you ask why the buffalo leather is not stretched, the answer is to preserve the unique grain pattern in the buffalo leather. You can see the grains in buffalo leather more distinctly than in cow leather. Therefore, artisans and manufacturers take extra care to preserve the grainy appearance to the best extent possible.
While choosing buffalo or cow leather, ensure to keep it well conditioned and clean. Choose the right type of leather cleaner and leather conditioner and understand how to care for your leather very well so that you let it work for you for long years.
