In practice, leather may develop wrinkles or wavy surface structures. Such effects often become visible only during processing of the leather, for example in leather-covered upholstered furniture or seats.
These phenomena may be caused by the loose grain effect of the leather. Since the cause is not necessarily related to the leather fibre structure itself, the issue is also referred to as the loose grain effect.
The investigation of the loose grain effect is therefore specifically used in cases of quality issues, for example in automotive leather seats, when wrinkling, orange peel effects, or irregular leather surfaces occur. Within the failure analysis group of our testing laboratory, targeted investigations are carried out to identify possible influencing factors contributing to the effect.