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Alcantara

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Alcantara

Postby Woodbloke » 25 Sep 2020, 08:37

Never heard of it? Neither had I till an old student I met a few years ago introduced to to it. It's a man made leather like fabric made in Italy and used, as I understand, in the high end motor trade by the likes of Ferrari and RR. It's imported into the UK by these folk in Huddersfield.

I was looking for a suitable material for a lining to use in the Rosewood jewellery box currently under construction in the 'shop and I thought, naturally enough that a soft suede leather would be ideal. However, my old student who works for these people mentioned that the acids in natural leather will tarnish silver and for linings of any drawers or boxes etc they always used Alcantara.

That said, I think it's actually more expensive to buy this material than proper leather, but they will sell small quantities either as off-cuts or cut from the roll. It's also available in several thicknesses, 0.6 and 0.8mm being the most common for jewellery boxes. SWIMBO bought me a half metre simply by ringing the firm up and placing an order over the dog n'bone. Beware though, of buying it from Evilbay as there are a lot of fake and 'lookalike' materials around and you may not be purchasing the genuine article - Rob
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Re: Alcantara

Postby droogs » 25 Sep 2020, 08:50

It is lovely stuff, I used it about 25 years ago in a rebuild/restoration of my 1987 Alfa GTV6. Used for the centre panels of the seats, for the dash and door handles. That car was gorgeous when it was finished, signal yellow with black and tan interior. Wish I still had it
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Re: Alcantara

Postby Woodbloke » 25 Sep 2020, 11:10

droogs wrote:It is lovely stuff....

Just received it from the postie and I agree, it's lovely stuff with a very 'leathery' feel to it. I'll be using it again and SWIMBO has already requested that one or three of her small ring boxes are lined in it. I selected a bit of the Royal Blue 0.8mm stuff and am muchly impressed - Rob
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Re: Alcantara

Postby Lons » 27 Sep 2020, 21:57

The seats in my Merc are alacantra Rob and I wasn't sure at first as previous cars have been leather however after nearly 3 years of use I've found it very comfortable and hasn't creased nearly as much as leather would have done.
Anyone who's seen it just assumes it's leather. I had to laugh at your comment
there are a lot of fake and 'lookalike' materials around and you may not be purchasing the genuine article
That would be a fake of a fake! :D
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Re: Alcantara

Postby Cncpaul » 28 Sep 2020, 20:09

Woodbloke wrote:
I was looking for a suitable material for a lining to use in the Rosewood jewellery box currently under construction in the 'shop and I thought, naturally enough that a soft suede leather would be ideal. However, my old student who works for these people mentioned that the acids in natural leather will tarnish silver and for linings of any drawers or boxes etc they always used Alcantara.

- Rob



Rob , I use GH Leathers for suede and leather, my go to is their Goat skin for my jewellery and ring boxes, the colours they stock are amazing.


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Re: Alcantara

Postby Mike G » 28 Sep 2020, 21:11

It sounds like a town in the Atlas mountains, or a dish Rick Stein would conjure up al fresco on a beach. :D
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Re: Alcantara

Postby MY63 » 28 Sep 2020, 21:37

Hi Rob, I hope your former student was smiling when he said that. Silver tarnishes in air :lol: Suede has been used in jewlery boxes for decades.
I also use GH Leathers goat or lamb skins provide the best suede for boxes usually around £20 for goat and slightly more for lamb. They have huge stocks of single skins in clearence I got two last week for £7 each.
Alcantara is a brand name like Harris Tweed and is priced accordingly I buy my fabric from First for Fabrics near Newcastle they have some fake Alcantara yes it is a fake of the fake suede :D but is 1/4 of the price.
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Re: Alcantara

Postby Woodbloke » 28 Sep 2020, 22:20

MY63 wrote:Hi Rob, I hope your former student was smiling when he said that.

I don't know where Peter gleaned that bit of info but I do remember him mentioning that suede leather will tarnish silver and I've heard that it will also tarnish in air. I have a few pairs of silver cuff links that I keep in a closed box and wrapped up in cotton wool balls; they seem to fine the last time I looked which was a while ago. I've not used GH leathers but that establishment was also recommended to me by Chris Tribe (recently retired) who used to run a rather good workshop 'oop Narth' in Ilkley - Rob
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Re: Alcantara

Postby TrimTheKing » 29 Sep 2020, 08:28

Mike G wrote:It sounds like a town in the Atlas mountains, or a dish Rick Stein would conjure up al fresco on a beach. :D


Or an Italian born Spanish footballer.
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Re: Alcantara

Postby Woodbloke » 29 Sep 2020, 08:36

I was pondering this last night after I switched off the 'pooter and went up the wooden hill, so I asked Google on my iPhone the following question: 'does leather suede tarnish sliver?' and the following are direct quotes from Mr. Google

'While tannins are effective at making leather more water resistant and durable, they also release corrosive gases. That means that any leather tanned through the use of tannins will eventually tarnish any precious metals it comes into contact with'.

'The tannins in leather release gases that cause silver to tarnish. When leather and silver are stored in the same poly bag or container, the gases get trapped inside and tarnishing will occur'.

'Tarnish on pure silver is the compound silver sulfide (Ag2S, mineral acanthite), which forms when the silver reacts with sulfur-containing gases in the air'.

'So while jewelry that incorporates leather may look pretty, its important to note that it will most assuredly begin to darken any silver on the piece'
.

It would appear then that there's more than an element of truth in the statement I was given and whilst suede leather undoubtedly looks the business it may not necessarily be the best choice - Rob
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