Field notes from the workshop

Materials

Leather care, buying guides and the materials behind our goods. Written at the bench in Coeur d'Alene, North Idaho.

Vegetable Tanned vs. Chrome Tanned Leather: Which Develops Better Patina?

Materials · 3 min read

Vegetable Tanned vs. Chrome Tanned Leather: Which Develops Better Patina?

Vegetable tanned and chrome tanned leather age very differently. Learn the key differences between these two tanning methods and which develops the better patina for EDC...

How to Care for Horween Leather: Shell Cordovan, Chromexcel & More

Leather Care · 4 min read

How to Care for Horween Leather: Shell Cordovan, Chromexcel & More

Horween leather is among the finest in the world — but each type has its own care needs. Learn how to care for Chromexcel, Shell Cordovan,...

How to Speed Up Leather Patina: Natural Methods That Actually Work

Leather Care · 4 min read

How to Speed Up Leather Patina: Natural Methods That Actually Work

Want that rich, aged leather look faster? Here are the natural methods that actually work to speed up leather patina — from sun exposure to beeswax...

What is Leather Patina? How It Forms and Why It Matters

Materials · 4 min read

What is Leather Patina? How It Forms and Why It Matters

Leather patina is the gradual, beautiful change in a leather's appearance over time. Learn what it is, how it forms, which leathers develop the best patina,...

What Leather Patina Really Means

Materials · 4 min read

What Leather Patina Really Means

Patina is not damage. It is the earned character that full grain leather develops through years of honest use. In this article, Nathaniel Von Lind explains...

What Happened to Real Leather Belts?

Materials · 5 min read

What Happened to Real Leather Belts?

What happened to the thick, durable leather belts our grandfathers wore? Over the past several decades, big-box retail and cost-cutting manufacturing quietly replaced full grain leather...

Rugged Style: The Natural Leather Belt That Only Gets Better with Age

Buying Guides · 3 min read

Rugged Style: The Natural Leather Belt That Only Gets Better with Age

Editors Note: This article features our Craft Belt Natural and our Mountain Belt Russet. You can also purchase these belts in brown and black.The Benefits and...

How to Force Patina on Brass

Materials · 4 min read

How to Force Patina on Brass

We offer quite a few different brass accessories at Craft and Lore.  While we love brass in its natural form, we sometimes like to transform that...

What is Horween Shell Cordovan Leather? Reversed?

Materials · 5 min read

What is Horween Shell Cordovan Leather? Reversed?

Horween Shell Cordovan is one of the premier leather offerings at Craft and Lore. It comes with a lot of hype from dedicated fans and a...

Top 4 Leather Patina Choices

Materials · 1 min read

Top 4 Leather Patina Choices

Which leather will patina the most?In order to answer that, let's ask what is leather patina?We're often asked what leather will form the best patina over...