The mysterious nubuck appeared in stores relatively recently, but immediately gained popularity and recognition. It is good for a variety of conditions, and yet what is it like? What kind of material is nubuck? How not to mix it up with velor or suede?
Nubuck - what is this material?
For shoes, especially when it comes to bad weather, the main task is to protect from cold and humidity. And this task is excellently handled by nubuck. He appeared in the store quite recently, but quickly won the love of consumers, despite its relatively high cost. Well, quality has always been highly regarded.
So what is nubuck material? It is a specially crafted animal skin. Outwardly, it even strongly resembles suede, but, unlike it, nubuck is made only from cattle hides.
Raw materials are processed in a special way - they are tanned with mineral salts. After this procedure, the material becomes soft, elastic, heat-resistant. However, it passes water perfectly, which is unacceptable for demi-season and winter shoes. Therefore, after tanning, the skin is subjected to fatliquoring and some other procedures that improve the consumer properties of the material. What are they like?
The properties
By their origin, leather, nubuck are natural materials, besides having common “roots”, so it is not surprising that they are so similar. However, there are some differences.
Nubuck is a natural material, characterized by high breathability, some hairiness, as well as strength and wear resistance, if properly looked after. It resists shock and stretching well, and is also just very pleasant in a tactile and aesthetic sense. In the leather industry, all types of natural nubuck are considered premium materials. No wonder he became so popular and used so widely.
Application
When it became clear what kind of material is nubuck, it is worth talking about what areas it is used in. First of all, it is the shoe industry. Both boots and shoes, as well as sandals and shoes are made from nubuck - it is so versatile. In addition, this material is also used as upholstery for upholstered furniture. Its softness and durability help sofas and armchairs to maintain their original appearance for many years, but, of course, if they are properly cleaned. Finally, bags and gloves also began to make this material pleasant for the skin, but they all require a certain attitude.
Care Features
Everyone knows that careful handling of any thing significantly extends its service life. In the case of nubuck, we can say that the lack of proper care significantly reduces it. But in order for, for example, shoes to serve much longer, you will have to make some efforts.
Firstly, before using it, it is necessary to impregnate shoes or boots with special compounds so that the material strengthens its water and dirt-repellent properties. Of course, this does not save completely from subsequent care, but it can greatly facilitate cleaning.
Secondly, shoes should be regularly treated with suitable products. In order to clean the nubuck, there are special forms of brushes made of soft material that allow you to get rid of dirt on all parts of the boot or boot, including the seams. An ordinary cream will not only not work, but also harm the tissue, after processing it, it will lose its properties and presentable appearance.
If regular care did not work out, and your favorite shoes, it would seem, irrevocably spoiled by disgusting dirt stains, do not despair ahead of time. With a sponge and 10% ammonia diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 3, as a rule, you can get rid of trouble. After processing with such a composition, nubuck acquires pristine freshness and purity, but it still needs to be dried.
If a pile is taken, you can hold the product over steam, in most cases this saves the situation. You can resort to the same method before cleaning very strong contaminants that have managed to dry out - so getting rid of them will be much easier. In no case should you wash such shoes, especially with soap, it will end up with the thing being damaged.
Finally, another golden rule of handling a nubuck is that it is extremely undesirable to clean it wet or damp, as the product may lose its appearance. Yes, it seems that the nubuck is too tender for Russian realities, and the efforts to care for it will have to be spent too much, but its beauty and convenience are really worth it. However, there are similar, but more practical materials.
Artificial nubuck
What kind of material in its present form does not have an artificial analogue? Calling it is not a very easy task. So natural nubuck has a synthetic fellow, characterized by a lower cost. This material is a "pie" of polymers layered in a certain order on top of each other. Using this technology, you can get a pile of different lengths and diameters, so that the final products will look different, and also have some differences in consumer properties.
In the general case, it is believed that, despite its relative cheapness, artificial nubuck in wear resistance is not inferior to natural material. Someone even believes that it is more durable and much better resists mechanical stress and temperature extremes. But natural material is still valued much higher.
Nubuck oil
Under this name is another species. What is nubuck oil? It differs from ordinary natural one only in that even before sewing the finished product, it is impregnated with a special oil composition that enhances the water-repellent properties so much that in such shoes it will not be scary to go outside even in heavy rain. The resulting material is heavier and denser, in addition, it looks like it is slightly moist. It is much more durable than regular natural nubuck, and requires a little less attention, but also higher in price.