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About Suede Suede is a popular leather, but it is delicate. The nap of suede is formed on one side when a hide is split through its thickness (skived) to form 2 pieces where there was 1 before. The 2 pieces formed are top-grain leather, and suede. Thus, suede is 'leftover' material from skiving a hide to make "whatever" thickness of top-grain leather. Suede is not as valuable as top-grain leather, it does not wear as well, it does not retain its appearance without special care not to crush, stain, or soak it; & it does not last as long. Top-grain leather holds its width & length dimensions much better than suede does. Leather is the skin of an animal, of course, and has layers with differing degrees of stretch & permeability to air, light, abrasion & liquids. When a hide is skived into top-grain & suede, some of the under layers are retained with the top grain. Suede is only the underneath layers of the hide. The outermost layer of any hide has varying resistance to light, oil, abrasion, & water, & so does top-grain leather. Suede does not resist light, oil, abrasion, or water as well as top-grain because nature didn't make it to. The function of the under layers of a hide (suede) is to connect the outer layers with the muscles under the skin when the animal is alive. The original nature of a hide stays with it to some degree after it is made into leather, & some characteristics change. The kind of process used to make a hide into leather affects the performance of the leather, too. Some leathers will return to their original dimensions after drying better than others. Moose is one of those leathers that does not stretch when wet; while elk stretches greatly in 1 direction when wet. Elk will not shrink when it dries; while pigskin will, and so on. Suede is entirely different, however! Two pieces of suede of the same kind of leather, such as cow, will usually stretch much differently when wet. Not only will one stretch more than the other, but one may stretch along its length while the other may stretch across its width. There is no way to predict this. Moreover, some suede leathers will shrink as they dry, while others will not, or stretch greatly in 1 direction & not in the other when the suede is cleaned. LEATHERestoration Service uses a water-based process to clean most leathers & suedes, but this shrink/stretch phenomenon occurs with petro-solvent-based processes, too. Once the surface of suede has been crushed or packed & the suede has become shiny, the surface cannot be returned to like-new appearance. "Some" of it may, but generally, "none" is a better expectation. Similarly, if the suede you want restored needs our ultimate conditioning agent in order to make the suede soft again, the nappy surface of your suede will be gone. The surface will look & feel very soft & supple, but nothing like the suede originally felt or like suede usually looks & feels. So – when you want LEATHERestoration Service to clean, re-dye, and recondition your suede, no guarantee can be given as to the results that will be gotten. We will be happy to do the work for you, but it is always with the understanding that suede comes with no guarantee of any kind & you have suede done entirely at your own risk. Thank you for your interest in LEATHERestoration Service's work! We treat every piece as if it were a priceless antique, & make the leather around you surround you with beauty!