S09E06: Leather

Together with special gust host Talitha Wachtelborn we explore the world of leather conservation: from book bindings to suitcases! Also tune in for an interview with Mike Redwood about the history of tanning and the sustainability of leather, and a chat with Rosie Bolton and Arianne Panton from the Leather Conservation Centre.

00:01:37 Our experience with leather (oh behave!)
00:07:34 How long have humans been using leather?
00:09:52 Manufacture impacts condition
00:18:10 Leather use in a societal context
00:23:47 Leather substitutes
00:29:38 Consolidation, secret sauce, and ethics
00:37:16 Interview with Mike Redwood
00:53:47 Interview with the Leather Conservation Centre
01:09:41 Patreon shout out

Show Notes:
– Smut episode: https://thecword.show/2018/11/30/s04e06-smut/
– Wet Stuff episode: https://thecword.show/2019/03/20/s05e01-wet-stuff/
– History and Conservation of Leather: https://www.icon.org.uk/events/gilding-and-decorative-surfaces-group-history-and-conservation-of-leather.html
– Development of archival leather by J Hewit & Sons Ltd: https://www.hewit.com/download/fs-craft.pdf
– Red rot: https://www.conservation-wiki.com/wiki/Red_rot
– Herre de Vries’ talk on shark skin leather bindings: https://www.icon.org.uk/resource/lecture-29-herre-de-vries.html
– Rexine artificial leather: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rexine
– Artificial leather on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_leather
– Leather Conservation Centre: https://leatherconservation.org/
– Japan and its leather: https://www.mikeredwood.com/japan-and-its-leather/
– Mike’s blog on leather manufacture: https://www.mikeredwood.com/leather-technology-background/leather-manufacturing-and-technology-in-detail/
– Museum of Leathercraft: https://nationalleathercollection.org/
– Bats in Portugese libraries: https://www.thevintagenews.com/2018/08/09/bats-portugal/
– Conserving some Adidas trainers: https://leatherconservation.org/dribble-me-this-conserving-adidas-k-abdul-jabbar-trainers/
– Conserving Arthur’s coin purse: https://leatherconservation.org/ww1-purse-belonging-to-arthur-william-byford%e2%80%af/
– Education via the LCC: https://leatherconservation.org/education/

Support us on Patreon!

Hosted by Jenny Mathiasson, Kloe Rumsey, and Talitha Wachtelborn.

Intro and outro music by DDmyzik used under a Creative Commons Attribution license.

Made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International license.

A Wooden Dice production, 2021.

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