What kind of material is nubuck? Types, characteristics and reviews. Nubuck - material for shoes

The mysterious nubuck appeared in stores relatively recently, but immediately gained popularity and recognition. It is good for a wide variety of conditions, and yet what is it? What kind of material is nubuck? How not to confuse it with velor or suede?

Nubuck - what is this material?

For shoes, especially when it comes to bad weather, the main task is to protect against cold and moisture. And nubuck perfectly copes with this task. It appeared in the store quite recently, but quickly won the love of consumers, despite its relatively high cost. Well, quality has always been highly valued.

So what is nubuck material? It is a specially treated animal skin. Outwardly, it even strongly resembles suede, but, unlike it, nubuck is made only from cattle skins.

Raw materials are processed in a special way - tanned with mineral salts. After this procedure, the material becomes soft, elastic, heat-resistant. However, it perfectly permeates water, which is unacceptable for demi-season and winter shoes. Therefore, after tanning, the leather is subjected to fatliquoring and some other procedures that improve the consumer properties of the material. What are they?

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 also some differences.

Nubuck is a natural material characterized by high breathability, some hairiness, as well as strength and wear resistance, if properly cared for. It resists shock and stretching well and is simply very pleasant in a tactile and aesthetic sense. All types of natural nubuck are considered premium material. Unsurprisingly, it became so popular and used so widely.

Application

When it became clear what kind of material is nubuck, it is worth talking about the areas in which it is used. First of all, this is the shoe industry. Both boots and boots, as well as sandals and shoes are made of 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 cleaned correctly. Finally, bags and gloves have also begun to be made of this skin-friendly material, but they all require a certain attitude towards themselves.

Care features

Everyone knows that careful handling of any thing significantly prolongs its service life. In the case of nubuck, it can be said that the lack of proper care reduces it significantly. But in order for, for example, shoes to serve much longer, you will have to make some effort.

Firstly, even before using it, it is necessary to soak boots or boots with special compounds so that the material enhances its water and dirt-repellent properties. Of course, this will not save you at all from subsequent care, but it can greatly facilitate cleaning.

Secondly, the shoes must be regularly treated with suitable products. In order to clean nubuck, there is a specially shaped brush made of soft material that allows 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 will also harm the tissue, after processing it, it will lose its properties and presentable appearance.

If you didn't manage to do with regular care, and your favorite shoes, it would seem, are irretrievably damaged by disgusting stains of dirt, do not despair ahead of time. Using a sponge and 10% ammonia diluted with water in a ratio of 1: 3, as a rule, you can get rid of the trouble. After processing with such a composition, nubuck acquires its original freshness and purity, but it still needs to be dried.

If the pile has crumpled, you can hold the product over the steam, in most cases this saves the situation. You can resort to the same method before cleaning very strong dirt that has dried out - this way it will be much easier to get rid of them. It is impossible to wash such shoes, especially with soap, in any case - this will end with the thing being damaged.

Finally, one more golden rule of handling nubuck is that it is highly undesirable to clean it in a wet or damp state, as the product may lose its appearance. Yes, it seems that nubuck is too delicate for Russian realities, and you will have to spend too much effort to care for it, 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 modern form does not have an artificial analogue? Calling one is not an easy task. So natural nubuck has a synthetic counterpart, which is distinguished by a lower cost. This material is a "cake" of polymers, layered in a certain order on top of each other. With the help of this technology, it is possible to obtain pile of different lengths and diameters, so that the final products will look different, as well as have some differences in consumer properties.

In general, it is believed that, despite its relative cheapness, artificial nubuck is not inferior to natural material in durability. Someone even believes that it is more durable and resists mechanical stress and temperature extremes much better. But natural material is still much more valuable.

Nubuck oil

Another variety is hidden under this name. What kind of material is nubuck oil? It differs from an ordinary natural one only in that, even before the finished product is sewn, it is impregnated with a special oil composition, which so significantly enhances the water-repellent properties that it will not be scary to go out in such shoes even in heavy rain. The resulting material is heavier and denser, and it also looks slightly damp. It is much more durable than regular natural nubuck and requires a little less attention, but also higher in price.