Vegetable Tanned Vs. Chrome Tanned Vs Combination Tanned Leather: What’s Best For Your Boots?

I’ve met enough professional leatherworkers to know that creating leather is made with infinite calibrations of complex chemistry, biology, and engineering. You can get multiple PhDs in leather and there are infinity ways to make it.

But if you wanted to, you could simplify it down to two terms, which are the two methods by which practically all leather is made:

• Vegetable tanning, which is how humans have been doing it since time immemorial, and
• Chrome tanning, invented in the 1850s

So what’s the bEsT way to make leather?

Hey, I just told you: leather is super complicated and there are a million different judgments you have to make first. You pretty much need to order all of your priorities: waterproofness, sustainability, heat resistance, elasticity, blisters, etc. etc. etc.

.But I’ll give you a really quick rundown of how people contrast the two main ways of making leather.

What Is Vegetable Tanned Leather?

The vegetable tanning process, also known as veg tanning, uses the word in the animal, vegetable, mineral sense.

You’ve probably heard of the tannins you consume in tea and wine. The vegetable matter we use to tan leather are really high in tannins — often it’s bark mimosa, quebracho, or chestnut.

Vegetable tanning dehydrates the hides by replacing the water molecules and bonding with the collagen. Hides are stretched out on wooden frames and soaked in vats of increasingly concentrated tannin compounds, eventually resulting in a tough, durable leather.

There are a zillion more steps that happen (or can happen) during the production of leather — see some examples in this tour of Lefarc Tannery in Mexico — but for this article, we’re just focusing broadly on the two main categories of leather tanning.

Benefits of Vegetable Tanned Leather

Long story short: they find stuff millennia-old leather with stuff like the Dead Sea Scrolls because vegetable tanned leather is really durable.

Chrome tanned leather can be super crazy durable as well, but it’s true that veg tanned leather ages differently: when you think of a fictional “grandpa’s well aged old leather suitcase,” it’s a rich, vegetable tanned beast.

It tends to be stiffer than chrome, but like stiff and starchy jeans, many find veg tan leather fits and molds to your foot’s shape better than softer chrome tanned leather.

Downsides of Vegetable Tanned Leather

It’s fair to say there are fewer environmental risks with veg tanning, but it’s more complicated than you’d think: veg tanning doesn’t make toxic chromium byproducts, but it does take more time, which can mean more resources, water, and energy.

Shell cordovan often takes over a year to make, so it can actually be hard to make this vegetable tanned leather pass some sustainability metrics.

It’s usually stiffer than chrome tanned leather, so a lot of people find veg tan less comfortable on footwear. It’s also harder to dye: you can’t make a veg tan leather that’s white or bright pink.

What Is Chrome Tanned Leather?

Chrome tanning is veg tanning’s younger, faster cousin, swapping organic tannins for a compound called chromium III  sulfites. It was first invented in the mid-19th century, and now at least 90% of all the world’s leather is chrome tanned.

Chrome III vs Chrome VI

The chemistry behind chrome tanning is somewhat complex; the super simple breakdown is that Chrome III is good, while Chrome VI is bad.

Chrome III, or Chromium III, is an essential nutrient. You can actually buy it as a nutritional supplement.

Sometimes, if it’s done really badly, a tannery can release Chrome VI (a byproduct) into the environment, causing all sorts of environmental and human health problems.

But you should watch that video above about my trip to Lefarc, or read this article, because it goes through a ton of processes they use to eliminate any chance of chromium VI problems.

Leather Working Group Gold Rating

Chrome leather can be as, if not more, environmentally friendly than veg tanned leather.

To ensure that tanneries are doing everything possible to make sure no Chromium VI is produced, the LWG (Leather Working Group) works with large tanneries to reduce harm to the environment and people.

[READ THIS REALLY GOOD ARTICLE WE WROTE ABOUT THE LEATHER WORKING GROUP]

Benefits of Chrome Tanned Leather

Chrome tanned leather is faster and cheaper, yes. I’ve seen many leathers that took less than two days to run through the process. That means it uses less water than veg tanning.

But there are other reasons it’s more popular: while you can use chrome tanning for super tough leathers, you have to for footwear you want to be comfortable.

Chrome tanning is superior for making leather soft and stretchy and comfortable, which is why everyone prefers chrome tanned sneakers even if they have a veg tan option. It’s more comfortable!

You can make it in more colors: every brightly colored leather you’ve seen (especially white) has been chrome tanned.

But before you start thinking it’s only good for people who require soft and colorful shoes, chrome tanned leather is also more outdoorsy: tanners prefer it when they need to make leather that’s extra resistant to heat, water, and ultraviolet radiation. than veg tanned leather. Sorry!

Chrome-tanned leather is easy to dye, and holds color well over the lifetime of the piece.

Downside of Chrome-Tanned Leather

So overall, it’s a quick, cheap, easily automated process that results in a thin, colorfast, and supple leather — so what’s the downside?

When chrome tanning goes bad, it goes really bad: Take, for example, Kanpur, India. It’s home to over 250 tanneries that, in the late twentieth century, were linked to widespread problems related to chromium VI pollution: respiratory problems, renal failures, dermal issues, and birth defects.

But the days of being able to just say “chrome tanned leather is worse for the environment” are long gone. You can make chrome tanned leather safely.

We’re certainly not saying that all chrome tanned leather is bad quality or irresponsibly produced. Many of the world’s greatest leathers are chrome tanned.

And we’re certainly not saying that all chrome-tanned leather is bad quality or irresponsibly produced. Many of the world’s greatest leathers are chrome-tanned. Because (as a rule) it’s cheaper and more comfortable than veg-tanned stuff, it’s vastly more popular than veg-tanned, so there’s huge demand for leather artisans to make the best chrome-tanned leather they can.

Oil-tanned leather is one significant example of innovation in chrome tannage.

What Is Oil-Tanned Leather?

Red Wing might be America’s most beloved heritage boot brand, and they make all their own leather at their own tannery, S.B. Foot. It’s described as “oil tanned,” which means the leather is chrome tanned, but it’s infused with a significant amount of oil, making for particularly weather-resistant leather that needs little conditioning.

Thursday Boot Company has also released their own oil-tanned line, called “Rugged & Resilient,” and plenty of other companies trade in the stuff, like Dayton, Danner, and Thorogood.

Viberg and Alden boots are often compared because they both use high-quality Chromexcel.

Combination Tanned Leather

If you’re wondering, “Isn’t there a way to get the best of veg and chrome?” then you might want to think about combination tanned leather, which uses elements of both processes. Far and away the most popular veg-chrome hybrid is Chromexcel, a leather devised by Chicago’s Horween Leather Company that’s used in boots as inexpensive as Thursday Boots ($199) and as pricy as Viberg’s Service Boot ($700).

It accounts for the majority of the leather Horween produces, and is renowned for the depth of color produced by the variety of oils and waxes “hot stuffed” into the leather.

But there are plenty of different ways to go about combination tanning. CF Stead’s kudu and the leather on Oliver Cabell’s SB1 is mostly veg tanned and only finished with a couple of hours with chrome tanning agents to help lock in the waxes and color; Rhodes, meanwhile, uses calfskin that’s first chrome tanned and then further semi-veg tanned; Chromexcel itself undergoes a chrome salt “bath” before vegetable “retannage.” 

So it’s hard to paint all veg-chrome tanned leather with the same brush. While it’s tempting to say you’re getting the best of both worlds with combination tanning it’s worth remembering that Horween doesn’t rank too highly on independent measures of environmental friendliness — chrome tanning can still be tricky in any amount.

Vegetable Tanning vs Chrome Tanning

Vegetable-tanned leather boots aren’t better than their chrome-tanned leather counterparts. There’s a high-quality leather product out there made of either. Vegetable tanning signals quality and has a heritage appeal. The final product is stiffer and more brittle, but can be more durable when in the hands of a skilled craftsman vegetable-tanned leather products shine.

Chrome tanning offers more colors, softer leather, and uses less water. While mass-produced chrome-tanned leather is terrible for the environment, organizations like the Leather Working Group have strict guidelines that tanneries must follow.

My Favorite Chrome Tanned Leather Boots: Thursday Boot Company’s Captain

• Versatile dress/work boot hybrid
• Wide variety of leathers
• Just $199

It’s tough to say if Thursday Boot Company’s captain boot is my favorite boot. I have worn this boot a lot, likely more than any boot I own. I wore them to Colombia on vacation and to Mexico, where I visited Thursday’s factories and saw how they made boots.

We even made Chrome tanned leather. I used to make my own boots while we were there. This was super eye-opening. It actually changed my opinion about Chrome-tanned leather.

It wins on four very important points — it’s the lowest price boot I own and like to wear; they are comfortable out of the box, no break in required; and made of relatively high-quality and durable materials; lastly, they are more versitle than a lot of heritage boots, you can dress these up more than most other bulky, chunky mens boots.

[Shop the Thursday Captain Boot here!]

My Favorite Veg-Tanned Leather Boots: Grant Stone’s Brass Boot

• More versatile than most moc toes
• High-quality, vegetable-tanned leather
• $340

The Next boot is a Moc Toe style boot from Grant Stone, a lovely little company based out of Southern Michigan that makes Alden quality boots at Red Wing price points.

Like Thursday, they use high-quality materials, but they go a bit further, using slightly most costly leathers and soles.

The Brass Boot is one of the most versatile Moc Toe boots I own. Usually, they are a firmly casual boot due to the bulbous toe box and Christy sole that are common.

The Brass Boot is a work boot, but a fancy work boot. It’s a strange beast, but I love mine.

 [SHOP THE BRASS BOOT IN 9 LEATHERS HERE]

[See my comparison of Red Wing vs. Thursday boots!]

My Favorite Oil-Tanned Leather Boots: Red Wing Iron Ranger

• Full-grain leather,
• Oil-tanned leather
• Thicker leather and a more bulbous toe than the Captain
• Hardy, outdoorsy
• $349

Even though Red Wing didn’t start producing their heritage line until 2007, the Iron Ranger is a classic men’s heritage boot. These were my second pair of boots, and they are among my favorites.

They basically took over the oil tanning industry in the US and produce about 6 million linear feet of mostly oil-tanned leather every year as their SB Foot Tanning Co.

If you’re looking for a rugged, chunky, casual boot, these are perfect. The only downside is a tough break-in, which is due to the thick leather and steel shank.

The leather is great. It’s low maintenance and doesn’t need much treatment, and ages very nicely, which suits the rugged appearance and outdoorsy aesthetic.

[SHOP THE RED WING IRON RANGER HERE!] 

My Favorite Combination-Tanned Boot: Oak Street Bootmakers Trench Boot

• Made in America
• Sturdy construction
• $420-$470

The last boot I’ll recommend is the Trench Boot from Oak Street Bootmakers. They are one of the most underrated and best boot companies I’ve reviewed because, despite making 100% American-made boots from US tanneries like Horween, they’re as popular as one would imagine.

Part of that could be the price, $420 bucks isn’t cheap.

[BUY THE OAK STREET TRENCH BOOT HERE]

The Verdict

So what’s best for your boots? Well, according to Jason Pecarich, owner of luxury heritage menswear boutique Division Road, that depends on what you’re looking for.

Chrome tannages yield flexible, supple, and durable leathers that give out-of-the-box comfort while remaining hearty for decades. Vegetable-tanned leathers are more natural and full feeling and leave the grain more pronounced, patina more dramatically, and are easy to coax into shapes using heat and moisture, meaning they mold a little more to the foot. Neither is better than the other; they are just different and have different qualities in wearing and how they develop.”

So whichever leather you decide to go with is ultimately up to you.  

Vegetable tanned leather vs chrome tanned leather, what's the best?

Neither is objectively better. Chrome tanned is softer, comes in more colors, and can be environmentally friendly if you buy it from a respected tannery. Vegetable tanned leather is durable, old-fashioned, and patinas well.

What is chrome tanned leather?

Chrome tanned leather is a modern way of making leather faster and less expensively using chromium III.

What is vegetable tanned leather?

Vegetable tanned leather is an old fashion way of making leather using vegetable tannins. A lot of people think it's higher quality because its stiff and ages well. It's often more expensive than chrome tannked leather

What is oil tanned leather?

Oil tanned leather is imbued with oils during the tanning process. Oil tanned leather is more rugged and outdoorsy than veg tanned and chrome tanned.

What is combination tanned leather?

Combination tanned leather is leather that's been veg tanned and chrome tanned. This leather is the best of both worlds, offering softer leather that also ages well.