Patent leather

[3] In November 1799, inventor Edmund Prior, of Holborn, London, England, received a patent for a method of painting and colouring all kinds of leather;[4] and, in January 1805, inventor Charles Mollersten, of Hackney Wick, received a patent for applying a chemical composition in the preparation of hides, skins, and leather to give "a beautiful gloss".

The coating process was introduced to the United States and improved by inventor Seth Boyden, of Newark, New Jersey, in 1818, with commercial manufacture beginning September 20, 1819.

[8] Using a series of coating treatments based on linseed oil, the new shiny leather began commercial production on September 20, 1819.

Boyden's efforts resulted in the production of glossy leather that quickly caught on as a complement to formal dress.

A subsequent European method of manufacture was described in 1906 as follows:In the preparation of enamelled leather, a foundation coat of lampblack mixed with linseed oil has been laid on the flesh side, since the infancy of the industry in Europe.

After the skins have been allowed to settle, being laid in a pile for about a month, or longer if possible, the leather is tacked onto a frame and receives a brush coat of varnish.

[2]Later, the substitution of plastics such as Parkesine in lieu of treatments with linseed oil allowed patent leather to be produced more cheaply.

[citation needed] Patent shoes were available in black, yellow, green, orange, hot pink, white, blue and red.

Minor scratches and scuff marks in the coating can be removed using one of several special-purpose patent leather and poromeric cleaners on the market.