Understanding Our Leather Grades

How we grade, and why

A natural material has natural marks. Grading tells you how many — not whether the leather is any good.

The material

Every hide is different, on purpose

Leather is a natural material, celebrated for its individual character. Every hide has its own shape, size, colour, and marks — scars, insect bites, wrinkles, the odd brand mark. That's not a flaw. It's the material doing what natural material does.

Because of that, leather gets graded — not on quality or durability, but on how many of these natural marks show up, and where. A lower grade isn't worse leather. It's the same hide, with more of its history visible on the surface.

A leather hide showing its natural grain and markings

How you can buy

Two ways to buy, graded two ways

You can buy leather from us as a full hide or side, or as a cut panel. Each is graded differently, so it's worth knowing which one you're looking at before you order.

Full hides & sides

What "TR" means on a listing

TR stands for Tannery Run, and you'll only see it on full hides and sides. A TR hide is sold whole, so it comes with its natural spread of marks across the prime area, belly and edges.

Every TR hide or side falls between Grade A and Grade B — it will be A, B, or somewhere in between. We don't sell full hides or sides below that.

A TR hide suits you if you want the most freedom in how you lay out your pattern, or you're cutting several pieces from one hide and want them to match.

Full leather hides at India Leather Supply

Panels

Graded piece by piece

Panels are never marked TR. When we cut a panel, we lay it out to get the cleanest, most usable piece we can from that part of the hide, and then grade that piece on its own. The grade on a panel listing tells you exactly what that piece is like.

A Grade A panel isn't Grade A by chance. It's graded that way because we cut it to be that clean.

The grades

What each grade gets you

Here's what each grade means once you're deciding what to order, and where you'll find it.

A note on the numbers below — the usable-yield ranges are our own working figures from the bench, judged by eye across hundreds of hides. They're not a formula, and not a universal industry standard — treat them as a practical guide to what you're buying, not a lab measurement.

Grade A

90–95% usable

Seen in full hides & panels

The prime cutting area (the bend) is close to clean — up to two or three marks
Belly and shoulder may carry up to three or four faint marks, nothing that gets in your way

Grade B

80–85% usable

Seen in full hides & panels

Three to five marks across the prime area — still well within normal working range
Belly and edges may show a few small holes; plan your pattern placement around them

Grade C

60–65% usable

Seen in panels only

Marks run higher here, five to eight in the prime area — enough to start shaping how you lay out a pattern, not just where you avoid cutting
Non-prime areas may show visible holes or heavier wear

Sizing

How we calculate "Approx. Dimensions"

Hides aren't rectangles, so every panel we list is measured and calculated the same honest way.

Measure all four sides

Every panel is measured across all four sides, since hides are naturally irregular and rarely form a perfect rectangle.

Average and round down

We average the opposite sides — length and width — then round the result down to the nearest whole centimetre.

Read it as a guide

Belly and shoulder pieces are more irregular by nature — treat their figures as a general sense of shape, not a precise spec. It's not the minimum usable area; it's there to help you picture the panel before it arrives.

Every listing states its grade upfront. No dressing up a Grade B hide as A — what you order is what arrives.

Go pick your hide.

Browse leather panels & hides