Which is the most famous leather from Chicago based tannery Horwee? There is no doubt that it should be the shell cordovan, then which is the second most famous? It must be Chromexcel, CXL for short.
Why is this skin so famous? Because it is the most widely used and favored leather for workboots.
First of all, Chromexcel, more accurately, should be regarded as a tanning process, because although it is mainly cowhide, horse skin can also be tanned by this process. It has a history of more than 100 years.
The most popular propaganda on the Internet is that this process has 89 processes and takes 28 days. This is just like writing that Goodyear construction has more than 200 processes, which is hypocritical!
You can either talk about the most important and different processes from other tanning processes, or explain why so many processes are needed. Simply listing some seemingly awesome data is bluffing.
This process is mixed tanning. Firstly, tanning with chromium salt, and then vegetable tanning. This retanning is not unique to Horween. Horween’s core competitiveness lies in the fatliquoring process after tanning, that is, the mixing ratio of various waxes and the way of using steam.
Then, there is a layer of aniline surface treatment, and finally a layer of cow foot oil is applied.
According to the leather parts given by Horween, this leather is not picky at all.
Chromexcel leather was originally used as a seal for automobile engines. This was during World War II. Leather for sealing? Because Chromexcel will gradually fit the shape of the object it covers with use. In other words, the more you wear your Chromexcel leather coat, the more it will fit your body shape.
Chromexcel is not necessarily a good choice for bags, because it is easy to change color or fade. Visually, many places will become shallow, because of lighting and other reasons, and they will rub on clothes. The reason is that the oil content in it is very high, and all dyes can’t be cured well in leather.
Horween has a low-fat version of Chromexcel, which will feel a little dry.
The biggest selling point of Chromexcel, or the most popular one, is that the older it is, the more beautiful it is.
I think this is also related to its retanning process. Because generally vegetable tanned leather is more beautiful with use, while chrome tanned leather is generally uglier and uglier with age.
Disadvantage of Chromexcel
It’s mainly related to the cowhide, not the technology/process.
By Horween’s admission, they grind the epidermis. Although aniline treatment was carried out later, that is, there was no coating, it could not be called aniline leather.
What are the consequences of grinding? The grain surface is gone, and the pores become shallow. So the leather is smoother, which makes Patina more difficult to show. But then again, work boots, if worn normally, have a rough texture, and it’s really hard to see the so called Patina.
Another disadvantage is that the color is dull. Fortunately, this shortcoming will disappear with the longer the service life.
Summary
Re-tanning is used skillfully, which makes both chrome tanning quickly realized and vegetable tanning well aged. 28 days sounds like a long time, but it is much shorter than genuine vegetable tanning. Although there are other mixed tanned leathers, you can win by fame choosing Chromexcel.