How Shell Cordovan Leather is Made - Pit Tanning at Horween

[@CobblerBob]

Wow, awesome! Great video and well detailed explanation. Thank you! I wasn’t able to see any of this when I was there.

[@AshlandLeather]

Thanks, Bob! More to come soon I hope

[@Comrade134]

Amazing process. Thanks for sharing. This is definitely history in the making and this video should be shown in schools so that every little child can see what "Made in USA" really meant for those of us who take great pride in their work. The texture quality and the shine finish of this tanning process can be the subject of another video. Shell Cordovan is nothing short of iconic and can be very expensive but many people don't know why or have never heard of this beautiful American treasure.

[@Chadconnolly17]

Phil you have come along way! Watching your new videos to this video is amazing! Great job man!

[@AshlandLeather]

Thanks so much, Chad! I've been hustling quite a bit and trying to improve each day with the videos...same goes for our wallets!

[@edf2953]

Nice informative video. Amazing to learn how long the tanning process takes and how selective Horween is in selecting the appropriate grade of horse hide for inclusion in its Shell Cordovan product. Thanks again and keep up the good work!

[@AshlandLeather]

Hi, Ed! Thanks for taking the time to check it out. I appreciate the comment! Stay tuned for more

[@stevefok]

Very informative, Thanks Phil!

[@AshlandLeather]

Thanks for checking it out, Steve!

[@WallyTony]

This is absolutely fascinating

[@danielirvine7468]

Oh I could watch a full documentary on this amazing !!!!!!!

[@freddieslaughter1107]

What do they do with the trimmings?

[@dangaines405]

Very interesting! Thanks!

[@iweoldtimer]

You deserves more subs!

[@AshlandLeather]

Thanks, friend. I appreciate that. I make these videos because I love the leather and the process. I also like making stuff (including videos) so for me it's not about the amount of subs. I feel the world needs to see why Horween leather is special

[@ROK13760]

The secret of Cordovan leather gloss is the process of rubbing and pressing hard in a proper temperature hot state. Whatever the Horween's cordovan or italian cordovan. Using a heated smooth glass bottle or a smooth wiper, the cordovan leather is pressed hard so that the surface of the leather is smoothly shaped by pressure and heat. The reason for using a vegetable tanning process when tanning Cordovan leather is because vegetable tanning leather is easily molded by low heat. Chrome tanning leather is not easily molded into heat because of its heat resistance and flexibility.

[@AshlandLeather]

This is mostly true. I can't speak for other tanneries but, at Horween, we don't use a heated instrument to get the leather bright and shiny. We apply Venetian cream and polish it with a glass rod on the glazing jacks.

[@TNUni167]

What was the name of the vendor you said we could buy the Horween horsehide from?

[@AshlandLeather]

I would suggest reaching out to The Tannery Row or Maverick

[@Mizai]

from cow to wallet son to mama cow "i want to be a wallet someday"

[@jerseattle0722]

❤️

[@WallyTony]

You can just see why this is so expensive

[@jeffreyjoseph1477]

Shells get a Spa Day, very cool video thank you for sharing

[@hemigod2]

Hey Phil , how the F!!! Does anybody “have over a hundred years experience”? Lol dude how old are these men ?

[@paulkissiah8083]

Whoa , look cobbler Bob here's your heaven

[@thefirstIndiancar]

Is it possible to make car seats out of this hide? Thank you.

[@AshlandLeather]

Unfortunately it is not possible because the size and shape of the shell cordovan are small ovals roughly 2 square feet each. If you could do it it would also be very expensive. Spit balling here but I'd imagine that it would cost around $10k per seat to make them in shell cordovan

[@RMenon968]

​@@AshlandLeather ​Hello Phil, Thank you for your kind response. Your ballpark would be more accurate than our 'guestimate' of $30k for all the seats. Let's just allot a budget of $50k. If I could indulge you for a moment more, let's consider a customer who has the money, and wants the best. Is there any other reason we should NOT make seats out of shell cordovan? For example, would you say it would make the seats more uncomfortable because of its toughness. Is it even possible someone can make the seat covers? Certainly the joints (of the ovals) would have to become part of the allure of the seats. Besides we would incur quite a bit of trim waste too. I love that this would result in no two seats ever being the same. I've been considering using K-leather alongside cordovan to improve comfort. We want to offer an option in our custom-built, boutique top-of-the-line cars that NO ONE in the world even has. We don't expect to sell more than five or six units a year of this spec. Thank you so much for your time. Rathish Ramachandran, Re-founder Aravind Automobiles [e-mail]

[@AshlandLeather]

@@RMenon968 This is a fun thought experiment for me because the idea of shell cordovan seats is amazing! There are a few big big negatives to using shell cordovan for upholstery. First, the biggest concern is that shell cordovan is a vegetable tanned leather. When veg is exposed to high heat it "cooks itself" and turns into a potato chip. The leather will start to look cracked like dry skin. The direct sunlight and high air temperatures will push the interior temperature of the car to an unsafe level for veg if the car is parked in the sun. Secondly, this leather does not have any finish system. There is no binder/adhesion coat nor is there a top coat to seal the leather off. It will accumulate color from clothing and start to look dirty and aged quickly. Some people will love this but spending $50k on car upholstery...the type of person that would even consider that probably doesn't want that worn in type of aged look. The last big big problem that I want to repeat from my first response is that the size of the shells are quite small. You will have to get creative with the pattern for the seats as no piece of shell has enough area for a seat back or a seat by itself. A good compromise might be to use some shell cordovan pieces where hands touch like on steering wheels or perhaps arm rests. Please consider the heat + color fastness concerns above for the wheel and arm rests as well

[@RMenon968]

@@AshlandLeather Your response is highly appreciated. You are quite right about high heat inside. Unfortunately it seems the price -to-presentation ratio would be quite poor. As you rightly pointed out, no one paying $200-300k leave alone 50k for the interiors would accept any eyesore. I suppose this just brings us back to finding the best possible leathers available. Does kangaroo leather work by any chance? Thank you! Best regards.

[@AshlandLeather]

@@RMenon968 I have to admit that I am not savvy on car interior leather choices. I can tell you that the animal (kangaroo, cow, etc) is much less important than the finishing. I suggest checking out Townsend Leather www.townsendleather.com/

[@kennydesai7802]

But this doesn't show the part where they "shave" down to the shell membrane, right? Guess that's too much of a secret skill to share....

[@AshlandLeather]

Hi, Kenny! Yeah, this is just the pit tanning part of the 6 month process. There is a lot more involved in making shell cordovan. This is not showing the shaving part of the process although I would love to film that.

[@MeirCohen.kingbibi]

Top quality leather.

[@rc5902]

All those hydes are horses killed for their asses? 😢😢😢

[@hydroaegis6658]

No European countries still eat horsemeat. This is a byproduct of that. Leather is not profitable enough to be the sole reason to raise and kill an animal.

[@BuffaloNickel9]

@@hydroaegis6658 really? Shell cordovan is quite expensive though... Pls tell what you know about the life of the horses that shell cordovan comes from?