# Why is leather so expensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 13, 2013, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853 "2013-11-13T20:46:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853/21 "2013-11-14T04:39:42Z")
> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#): > > Don’t make these type of posts again (posts designed to get reactions). My reaction was wetting my pants laughing. 😃 I don’t need a warning to not do it again. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853/22 "2013-11-14T04:43:02Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > The vast majority of steers butchered to create meat for McDonald’s and pretty much everybody else are the product of stockyard feeding practices. Meaning, they’re crammed into a pen their entire lives, fed corn three times a day, and spend their entire lives ankle-deep in their own poop. The hides of these steers is covered in poop & other unsavory substances and it’s everything the modern meat processing industry can do to separate the skin from the meat without contamination. You would not want to use leather from one of these guys. Almost every assertion in this post is inaccurate. Care to try again? ---
**Author:** ![Namkcalb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c89c15/32.png) [@Namkcalb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Namkcalb)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853/23 "2013-11-14T04:50:36Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > the Jews How could you say something so stupid and ignorant. It’s actually the Jews fault pigskin is so expensive. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853/24 "2013-11-14T05:21:03Z")
Besides the expense of processing leather, tanned leather is both a joy and an extreme trial to work with. One wrong punch or cut is enough to ruin that piece enough that it has to be replaced. You can’t fudge with the darts and pleats to cover the mistake like you can with fabric. Leather requires stronger tools than fabric does. Industrial sewing machines are mostly designed with fabric in mind. You can’t pile 50 hides together and cut them with a bandsaw like you can with fabric, each piece of leather has a slightly different grain and fabric always has the same weave. There is also the part about how well leather lasts. I buy new jeans on a regular basis because I’ve worn them out. My chaps are almost 20 years old and they look scuffed, but they are still very serviceable. I can sure see why more investors would want to put their money into selling me 4 pair of jeans every year than for into the chance of selling me 1 pair of chaps every 10 years. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853/25 "2013-11-14T06:38:52Z")
Quite simply, there are so many applications wherein it is considered superior to any synthetic material. But usually the preparation of the leather, and even the preparation of the final item, requires either a tedious industrial process or skilled manual labor. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853/26 "2013-11-14T07:26:38Z")
I’d say a big contributor is that we now have stricter environmental controls, so the release of e.g. [chromium](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexavalent_chromium#Toxicity) [compounds](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromium%28III%29_sulfate) into the biosphere is a leeeetle frowned upon. So controlling that drives up the price. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853/27 "2013-11-14T12:35:32Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > What does this mean? I think he’s trying to imply that some men make wearing a leather jackets look hot and that some women make leather boots the hottest fashion statement since lace underwear. I think he’s confused though, thinking that this only happens across religious lines. _spinning a truly horrible slander elsewhere just as fast as I can_ ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853/28 "2013-11-14T14:41:37Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Or do you think it just falls off the cow that way? What a horrifying thought if the cow would know it’s fate by the way it’s hide was shaping up as it grew. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853/29 "2013-11-14T15:19:04Z")
Vegan leather is outrageously pricey due to medical costs inherent in keeping the donor cow alive and comfortable after removal of its hide. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853/30 "2013-11-14T17:12:23Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > How could you say something so stupid and ignorant. > > It’s actually the Jews fault pigskin is so expensive. 🙂 Foreskin’s pretty cheap though. ---
**Author:** ![Stormcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@Stormcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stormcrow)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853/31 "2013-11-14T19:37:53Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Vegan leather is outrageously pricey due to medical costs inherent in keeping the donor cow alive and comfortable after removal of its hide. I thought it was because of the cost of transporting all the way from Vega. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853/32 "2013-11-14T19:40:55Z")
I know some posts are made in jest, but let’s take the jokes against ethnic or religious jokes out of this thread. Feel free to start a joke thread if you wish, but this thread has nothing to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853/33 "2013-11-14T20:13:18Z")
Manufacturing costs, of course. And there are different grades of leather, especially for furniture, where the difference between full grain, top grain, corrected grain and split grain can be hundreds or even thousands of dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853/34 "2013-11-14T20:51:59Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Manufacturing costs, of course. And there are different grades of leather, especially for furniture, where the difference between full grain, top grain, corrected grain and split grain can be hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Also, if you’ve got an end product that utilizes large pieces of leather - like a couch - it becomes more difficult to find pieces of leather that big that don’t contain any visible flaws. That’s not the case for, say, a pair of leather gloves. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853/35 "2013-11-14T21:12:17Z")
Where is it all going? Try to find a nice, sturdy pair of leather dress boots without paying a small fortune. Nearly all the other leather footwear the hide is split paper thin. Why are they doing that? Another thing is the slapdash workmanship. An unfortunate (for consumers) side effect of increasing the standard of living in countries which used to make fine leather products? Or is it a reflection of the increasingly wide divide between what the common folk can buy vs. what the elites can buy? ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853/36 "2013-11-14T21:33:36Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Great video thanks! > > I see they don’t use urine anymore for tanning? Or dung. I bet that smelled delightful. 😉 > > This is the old ancient method used for thousands of years. > [Tanning - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanning) Why does leather smell so good today? I don’t even want to know what it use to smell like ☹ ---
**Author:** ![James\_Toothpaste](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@James\_Toothpaste](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/James_Toothpaste)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853/37 "2013-11-14T22:27:46Z")
Leather is expensive because it takes a lot of work to turn cow skin into leather. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853/38 "2013-11-14T23:15:32Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > Here you go: > [A 5-minute “How it’s Made” segment on how leather is made.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AM0MR2fyYRk) > > I wouldn’t want to work there. Where was the gross part? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-leather-so-expensive/673853.md?page=1)