Every craftsman would agree that to craft a piece of raw, natural material into a boot of perfect leather, isn't simple. Every hide will differ slightly with its unique properties and requires a specialist touch and eye for details, obtained only through experience. Hence, the continued dedication from S.B.Foot Tanning Company who have been supplying Red Wing Shoes with their leather from day one. Thus allowing Red Wing to produce boots that use a leather that is unmatched in appearance and quality.

Red Wing Boots use a variety of different leathers within their boots to create individual and unique appearances within their boots, and they include the following:

Chaparral Leather:

Used for traditional, stylish footwear, Chaparral leather is a full finished, classic leather with smooth, polished properties that truly shows the quality and beauty of this leather. Furthermore, chaparral leather is stain, water and perspiration resistant, which can be polished to restore luster and colour.

Oil Stick Leather:

This type of leather has an excellent feel with its soft, mellow properties and as an oiled and waxed full-grain leather has very distinguished features. Oil Stick leather has a natural appearance, which means that any marks of nature, e.g. scratches, fat wrinkles, scars and insect bites still remain visible on the leather. The leather is stain, perspiration and water resistant, providing another hard-wearing leather.

Harness Leather:

A 100% natural, heavyweight leather of full-grain, this leather is incredibly high performance, particularly once treated with oil and wax. The oil and wax also adds to the surface appeal of the boot and all natural marks remain as no pigments are used in the treatment of this leather.

Oro-iginal Leather:

A leather with a natural appearance, showing the visible beauty of a natural leather, including scars, scratches and so on. This leather has a fantastic surface feel, with its softness and also holds resistance to stains, perspiration and water.

Mohave Leather:

With an outer appearance of character, durability and texture, this leather is waterproof, with reverse properties of suede leather. This leather was initially employed to withstand incredibly harsh conditions within the field and withstands stains and is incredibly resilient to water.

Portage Leather:

This leather has the ability to withstand long wear, being a high performance leather of a full-grain. Tanned in the same way as Oro-iginal leather, this leather is stain, water and perspiration, this leather is incredibly durable and versatile with its heavyweight properties.

Muleskinner Leather:

A traditional leather for Red Wing with its toughness and durability; with its burnished appearance the leather has an appealing look and visual texture. This distinctive colour is hard sought by many and requires an art to achieve such a colour.

Rough & Tough Leather:

A leather that is full of character with its distressed and mottled appearance. Boots made from this leather are intended to look already worn and broken in with their distressed and antique look. The natural beauty of this leather is enhanced with no pigments being used during the treatment process.