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

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

Nubuck - what is this material?

For footwear, especially when it comes to weather, the main task is to protect from cold and humidity. And with this task superbly manages nubuck. He appeared in the store quite recently, but quickly won the love of consumers, despite its relatively high cost. Well, quality was always appreciated highly.

So, what kind of material is Nubuck? It is a specially crafted animal skin. Outwardly, it even resembles a suede, but, unlike it, the nubuck is made only from the skins of cattle.

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

Properties

In its origin, leather, nubuck - it's natural materials, besides having common "roots", so it's no wonder that they are so similar. Nevertheless, there are some differences.

Nubuck is a natural material, characterized by high air permeability, some hairiness, as well as strength and durability, if properly handled. It well resists shock loading and stretching, and is also very pleasant in a tactile and aesthetic sense. In the leather industry all kinds of natural nubuck are considered to be premium-class materials. It's no wonder that it became so popular and began to be used so widely.

Application

When it became clear that for the material nubuck, it is worth talking about in which areas it is used. First of all, this is the footwear industry. Nubuck makes both boots and shoes, and sandals and shoes - so it is universal. In addition, this material is also used as upholstery for upholstered furniture. Its softness and durability helps the sofas and armchairs to preserve their original appearance for many years, but, of course, if they are properly cleaned. Finally, bags and gloves also began to make of this skin-friendly material, but they all require a certain attitude towards themselves.

Features of care

Everyone knows that careful handling of any thing significantly extends its service life. In the case of Nubuk, it can be said that the lack of proper care significantly reduces it. But in order, for example, that the footwear served much longer, it will take some effort.

First, even before using, it is necessary to impregnate shoes or boots with special compounds so that the material strengthens its water and dirt repellent properties. Of course, it will not save you completely from the subsequent care, but it can greatly facilitate cleaning.

Secondly, shoes need to be processed regularly by suitable means. In order to clean the nubuck, there is a special form of a brush made of soft material, which allows you to get rid of dirt on all parts of the boot or boot, including the seams. The usual cream not only will not approach, but also will do much harm to fabrics, after processing it it will lose the properties and presentable appearance.

If you do not get regular care, and your favorite shoes seem to be irretrievably corrupted by hideous stains of dirt, do not despair ahead of time. Using a sponge and 10% ammonia, diluted in water in a proportion of 1: 3, you can usually get rid of trouble. After processing such a composition, the nubuck acquires a pristine freshness and purity, but it still needs to be dried.

If the pile is worn, you can hold the product over the steam, in most cases this saves the situation. The same method can be resorted to before cleaning very strong soils that have dried up - so getting rid of them will be much easier. To wash such shoes, especially with soap, it is impossible in any case - this will end with the fact that the thing will be spoiled.

Finally, another golden rule of handling nubuck - it is extremely undesirable to clean it in wet or wet form, as the product may lose its appearance. Yes, it seems that the nubuck is too gentle for the Russian realities, and it takes too much effort to care for it, but its beauty and convenience really are worth it. However, there are similar, but more practical materials.

Artificial nubuck

What kind of material in the modern form does not have an artificial analog? To call this is not a very simple task. That's natural nubuck has a synthetic fellow, differing in lower cost. This material is a "pie" of polymers, layered in a certain order on each other. With the help of this technology it is possible to obtain pile of different length and diameter, so that the final products will look differently, and also have some differences in consumer properties.

In general, it is believed that, despite its relatively low cost, the artificial nubuck in wear resistance is not inferior to natural material. Someone even believes that it is more durable and much more resistant to mechanical stress and temperature changes. But the natural material is still much appreciated much higher.

Nubuk-oil

Under this name is another species. What kind of material is Nubuck Oil? From ordinary natural it differs only in that even before the tailoring of the finished product it is impregnated with a special oil composition, which so significantly strengthens the water repellent properties, that in such shoes it is not terrible to go out into the street even in heavy rain. The resulting material is heavier and dense, in addition, it looks as if slightly moist. It is much more durable than the usual natural nubuck, and requires a little less attention, but also higher in price.