Pull up leather - Greased leather - Waxed leather - Oiled leather

Oiled, greased or waxed leather is robust smooth leather or nubuck leather, to which a greasy - oily - waxy finish is applied. Often these waxes, oils or fats are also dyed and therefore such leathers have a slight risk of dye transfer. Such leather is labelled as oiled leather, waxed leather, pull-up leather, saddle leather or as vintage leather.

Due to this soft and scratch-sensitive finish, the leather quickly gets a vintage-patina, which is a desired effect. The patina arises by folding, scratching and stretching. Liquid stains darken the leather. Depending on the type of production, the patina is already quite pronounced when new (as with washed jeans), or the patina is created relatively quickly by use. When leather has been given a binder-based colour layer on top,it takes significantly longer for the first traces of use to become visible.

Oiled, greased or waxed leather is mostly offered as bag, belt, shoe or as furniture leather.

Non-sanded waxed leather with typical patina.

Strong-grained thick leather with a greasing with intense patina.

Pull-up leather furniture.

Pull-up leather bags.

A video about the production of Pull-up.

Pull-up Leather

Pull-up leather is a nubuck with a grease or wax finish. Through use (kinking, stretching, abrasion, etc.), visible traces of wear are quickly formed, as with all waxy leathers. Beneath the wax finish is a sanded surface, so that the patina-development on pull-up leather is fast and strong.

There are also leathers, where the surface is not sanded before greasing or waxing. They are aniline leathers. With these leathers, the patina development is not as fast and strong as with the nubuck (sanded) pull-up leathers. Also, this version is often referred to as pull-up.

Historically, grain side non-sanded leathers with a greasy finish were called pull-up leathers. There have also been suedes with a grease layer as a finish. Therefore, the term pull-up has to be questioned or examined when offered. However, the patina or vintage look is characteristic for such leathers.

Pull-up leathers show the roughness of the nubuck in the close-up shots.

The transition from "fat leather" to today's "pull-up leather" is sliding. There are many different variants. There are fat leathers with very little and very much fat and there are only lightly sanded leathers and strongly sanded leathers. But for all variants the patina development is characteristic.

Pull-up shoes are very common.

Advice

It is important that the customer is advised about the patina development at the time of purchase. Otherwise, customers are disappointed afterwards and wonder about the fast-emerging traces of use. Most people just know that leather is from animals but cannot distinguish the many types of leather.

Customers are disappointed when the patina development comes unexpectedly and was not desired.

Exemplary: "This belt has a modern used-look. Colour variations and scratches are natural markings and not product defects".

How to clean and care for pull-up leather, greased leather, waxed leather or oiled leather

Soiled pull-up leather can be cleaned with COLOURLOCK Mild Leather Cleaner. Apply some cleaner to a soft cloth and clean circularly and evenly from seam to seam. Always test first in a hidden area and allow it to dry on its own. For heavy soiling, repeat the cleaning process. Heavily darkened areas can be additionally treated by carefully sanding the leather using the COLOURLOCK Leather Sanding Pad.

Various products are available to maintain pull-up leather. The COLOURLOCK Aniline Cream (darkens slightly and keeps the matt/dull finish), the COLOURLOCK Gloss Cream (darkens slightly and leaves a glossy finish after drying) and the COLOURLOCK Elephant Leather Preserver (darkens less and keeps dull). The Aniline Cream and the Gloss Cream are easier to apply on larger surfaces. All products should be used sparingly (first rub some of it into a soft cloth and do not apply directly to the leather) and test in a hidden area. Always apply circularly and evenly from seam to seam.

The cleaning and maintenance of pull-up leather bags with [COLOURLOCK Mild Leather Cleaner and COLOURLOCK Elephant Leather Preserver (also available as COLOURLOCK Handbag Cleaning & Care Kit).

Cleaning and care of greased leather shoes.

-> COLOURLOCK - CLEANING AND CARE OF PULL-UP, WAXED AND OILED LEATHER
-> In German: www.lederzentrum.de
-> Rest of the world: partners worldwide

Confusion with "pull-up" and "PU leather"

PU leather is sometimes referred to as a pull-up leather. For PU leathers, the "PU" signifies the polyurethane coating. Even in cleaning and care instructions of furniture this confusion appears, including wrong care instructions. On one hand, the leather looks visually similar and, on the other hand, the confusion possibly arises simply from the similarity of name "PU" and "Pull-up". Maybe "PU" was considered to be an abbreviation of "Pull-up".