Leather Furniture Glossary
- Accent Chair: Chair with a visible frame, usually with arms, in casual to elegant styles.
- Aniline Leather: Strong, porous leather dyed through all layers. Semi-aniline leather receives a topcoat of pigment to even the color and protect.
- Armchair: Chair with side supports for arms.
- Bating: Process to add softness and flexibility to leather.
- Breathability: How full-grain leather adjusts to temperature and moisture.
- Buffing: Process using sandpaper to correct grain and imperfections.
- Chrome Tannage: Process using chromium salts, creating soft, pliable leather.
- Club Chair: Thick-cushioned chair with hidden frame, low back, and raised arms.
- Chromium Tannage: Tanning with chromium salts and vegetable agents.
- Crocking: Low-quality dying, where color rubs off.
- Distressed Leather: Leather dyed first with a light color, then a darker color for an antique look.
- Full-Grain Leather: Strong, natural cowhide made unique by wrinkles and scars.
- Hand-Tied Coils: Highly durable spring system with multiple springs hand-tied together.
- Loveseat: Small sofa that seats 2.
- Kiln-dried: Process to reduce moisture, warping, and cracking in wood used for furniture frames.
- Milling: Process to soften by tumbling leather in a drum.
- Nubuck: Top-grain, buffed, soft-napped leather that is susceptible to stains and fading.
- Ottoman: Low seat with no arms; footrest.
- Pigmented Leather: Durable, buffed, and 2-process-dyed leather free of imperfections.
- Recliner: Armchair with back that lowers and footrest that raises while supporting back and neck.
- Sectional: Modular individual seating units that form one sofa.
- Sinuous Spring Support: S-shaped springs fastened with clips, using closely spaced no-sag nails to create firm support.
- Soaking: Treatment of cowhides with water to restore moisture and rid hide of salt and debris.
- Split Leather: Lower layer of the cowhide (less soft and durable).
- Suede: Buffed leather made from the split layer of cowhide.
- Top-Grain Leather: Surface layer of cowhide, the softest and most durable part.
- Vegetable Tannins: Extracted from tree bark and leaves; used to process rawhide into a firm-bodied leather.