Related knowledge and production process of sports shoes
1. Upper leather (vamp)
A. Function: The upper is the main body of a pair of shoes and the most expensive material of the entire pair of shoes;
B. Leather classification
By animal source: The upper material is very wide, in addition to cowhide, there are also horsehide, North American bison skin, ostrich skin, antelope skin, deerskin, lizard skin, crocodile skin, shark skin, etc., even chicken skin. Chicken leather shoes worn by Yu Qian's father, Mr. Wang;
According to tanning method: vegetable tanning (such as Tuscany), chrome tanning (such as weinheimer), mixed tanning (such as Horween cxl), etc.;
According to surface characteristics: full grain (full grain), coated (coated, commonly known as beaded edge), frosted (Nubuck), suede (suede), etc.;
According to the processing method: oil immersion (e.g. redwing most leather), wax coating (e.g. Horween waxed flesh), etc.;
According to the dyeing style: through dyeing (the dye penetrates the inside of the leather), non-through dyeing (cxl, only surface dyeing, that is, tea core leather).
Tips: There is a lot of knowledge about leather, and it needs to be slowly explored and accumulated over a long period of practice. "Paying tuition" is unavoidable. Regarding what leather is "good leather", sometimes it is very subjective, just like it~
C. Thickness
Generally speaking, the leather thickness of work boots is about 1.8-3.0mm. If it is too thin, it will not be able to hold up the shape of the work boots and will lose the work style; but do not pursue too much thickness. It will be time-consuming and labor-intensive for the shoemaker, and the wearing experience will not be good for the user. The leather thickness of formal shoes is about 1.2-1.5mm.
D. Soft and hard
The leather material for work clothes tends to be stiffer, and the "stiff" characteristic is more important. Shoes made of wide leather will not lose shape easily. The leather of British CFS and Horween's cxl are not hard, but Still popular. Soft leather such as napa leather cannot maintain the shape of the shoe.
E. parts
As shown in the figure below, it is a schematic diagram of the division of cowhide. The two sides are the belly strips (belly skin), which has the loosest structure; the one in the middle near the head is the shoulder and neck skin (shoulder skin); and the one in the middle is on the four sides and back. The block is the hip and back skin with the highest density (three straight sides). Some leather materials are cut and sold according to zones. Of course, the price is highest for the hips and back, and the cheapest for the belly. Others sell them straight in half, giving you both the good parts and the bad parts.
