Cowhide Is Functional And Fashionable As Floor Covering

Cowhide Is Functional And Fashionable As Floor Covering

By:


Cowhide is a traditional material for many products. Like its leather relatives, it can be used to make purses, furniture and clothing. It is also used for making floor coverings that are fashionable and long wearing.

Cowhide is a by-product of the cattle industry. Beef cows that are raised for meat are the source of this material. The pattern and color of the hide have to do with what breed of cattle it is sourced from. A breed like the Texas Longhorn has diversity of color and pattern within its group. There may be solid colored animals within the herd but most have at least two colors in their coat and a variety of different patterns. Similar to coat colors in Paint and Appaloosa horses, these cows may have a spotted or speckled appearance that consists of two or more colors. The spots may be large or small or a mixture of both. The spots are randomly placed and some coats are more appealing than others. The coat patterns may have a white background, a somewhat rippled pattern called brindle or a roan pattern that is a color that has white hairs within it. Shades of brown, cream, tan, black, grey or reddish brown are all possible combinations for these hides.

Cow skin rugs are obtained from animals that are not raised on ranches that have barbed wire fencing. There are two primary reasons for this. Barbed wire scars make unsightly bald spots and raised bumps on the hide. They also tend to tear on scars during the tanning process creating holes. The hide must be tanned to preserve it for use. This chemical process results in a hide that is flexible, does not have any unpleasant odor and helps preserve the hide for a very long time. Many of the tanners use chromium in the process of tanning and obtain their cows from the Amazon area of Brazil, a place legendary for its beef production.

Some of the newer offerings for cowhide rugs include those that that been dyed. Called stencil cowhides, they look like other exotic animal skin rugs. They can be found in orange tiger stripe patterns, black and white zebra patterns or exotic leopard. The patterns are very realistic and unless the truth about them is revealed, they could be assumed to be the real thing and not made from cattle.

This material has been used for hundreds of years. Besides making good use of the entire animal, it is durable and longwearing. Cowhide promises to be used just as much in the future.

About the Author:
To learn more about Cowhide, please visit our website.



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


Tags:

|

Loading...
Related....
Videos...

Recent Home-and-Family Articles

Comments

Still can't find what you are looking for? Search for it!

Loading

Site Navigation:

Copyright 2005-2011 ArticleSnatch, LLC - All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service.