Leather Colors: Chrome-tanned vs. Vegetable-tanned Leather

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by Valerie Franklin
July 31, 2014
2 min read
4 Comments

UPDATED JAN 27, 2026

We often get requests for our leather products in specific colors of leather, like pink or gray.

Unfortunately, there are some colors that we just can't do with our vegetable-tanned leather. We've called our dye manufacturer and discussed it at length.

The biggest obstacle is that vegetable-tanned leather already has a pigment when we apply a dye to it, which influences the final color. Fabrics and chrome-tanned leather have had all natural color stripped (bleached) out of it through heavy manufacturing processes.

That's why we're limited to natural colors, and can't offer pale or light colors like pink or gray, nor vibrant candy colors like electric purple. Because we use natural veg-tan leather only.

Vegetable-tanned leather is old-fashioned, structural, has rigidity, and is preserved using plant tannins. It keeps its natural pale hide tone and colors are stained on the surface.

Chrome-tanned leather has a fabric-like drape and has had all natural pigments removed during the tanning process, which uses chrome and mercury chemicals for preservation. The color comes directly from the tannery, not applied in-house.

The pictures above show the difference between vegetable-tanned and chrome-tanned (garment) leathers. There is a difference in:

natural pigmentation vs bleaching
whether the leather can be dyed after the tannery
whether the dye is surface-only or "struck through"
what kinds of colors can be added
rigidity and structural integrity: vegetable-tanned leather can be tools, carved, sculpted and shaped
environmental impact of tanning process: plant tannins vs chemicals
cost (which is partly a factor of tanning process time: veg-tan leather takes months while chrome-tanned takes weeks)
how it wears and ages: vegetable-tanned leather will last a lifetime and gain a patina with use while chrome-tanned leather will wear out and look dirty and tired with use

Learn More: (Free) Leather 101

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4 Responses

walnutstudiolo

July 11, 2023

Hi Mike,

Most likely if it’s garment leather, there’s little you can do to change the color. We don’t work with garment leather, so I don’t know its properties very well. Once the color is “set” during the chromium/mercury dye process, I believe it stays pretty much true. You could try a simple oil leather care treatment – as described here: http://walnutstudiolo.com/care – just to see. It shouldn’t hurt the leather, but it probably won’t darken it. I would not try this on suede, which has unique needs.

Cheers!
Valerie

Mike

July 11, 2023

I have a light brown leather biker jacket. I’d like to change it to a darker brown. Options? It was not an expensive jacket, thick buffalo I believe, tanned in china.

walnutstudiolo

July 11, 2023

Hi Samantha,

We actually don’t use acrylic paint, instead we hand-rub in oil dye. The dye itself doesn’t protect the leather from the rain, but we finish it after the oil dye with our own beeswax-based finish that does repel water. We also sell the beeswax-based finish separately here: http://walnutstudiolo.com/collections/all-products-in-stock/products/leather-care-dressing-salve-1oz

Cheers!
Valerie

samantha quinn

July 11, 2023

Does the acrylic paint you use protect the leather from rain?