Under the name of artificial leather, (not to be confused with
pleather) or of American leather cloth, large quantities of a material having, more or less, a
leather-like surface were once used, principally for
upholstery purposes, such as the covering of chairs, lining the tops of writing desks and tables, &c. There was considerable diversity in the preparation of such materials. A common variety consists of a web of
calico coated with boiled
linseed oil mixed with dryers and lampblack or other
pigment. Several coats of this mixture were uniformly spread, smoothed and compressed on the
cotton surface by passing it between metal rollers, and when the surface was required to possess a glossy
enamel-like appearance, it received a finishing coat of
copal varnish. A grained morocco surface was given to the material by passing it between suitably embossed rollers. Preparations of this kind have a close affinity to cloth waterproofed with
rubber, and to such manufactures as ordinary waxcloth. An artificial leather which was patented and proposed for use as soles for boots, &c., was composed of powdered scraps and cuttings of leather mixed with solution of
guttapercha dried and compressed. In place of the guttapercha solution, oxidized linseed oil or dissolved
resin could be used as the binding medium for the leather powder.
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