Chamois skin

Chamois leather (/ˈʃæmi/) is a type of porous leather, traditionally the skin of the chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra), a type of European mountain goat but today it is made almost exclusively from the flesh split of a sheepskin. The leather is favored for its gentle, non-abrasive composition and absorption properties. It has a range of uses:

Imitation chamois leather is made using other leathers (such as the domestic goat, or pig), and synthetic chamois leather is usually made from polyvinyl alcohol or non-woven viscose rayon.

The British Standard BS 6715: 1991 defines chamois leather as:

"Leather made from the flesh split of sheepskin or lambskin, or from sheepskin or lambskin from which the grain (the top split) has been removed by frizing, and tanned by processes involving oxidation of marine oils in the skin."

In the United States, the term chamois without any qualification is restricted to the flesh split of the sheep or lambskin tanned solely with oils (US Federal Standard CS99-1970).

Chamois leather is often counterfeited with goat or pig skin, the practice of which is a particular profession called by the French chamoiser.

The term chamois as used to refer to specially-prepared leather originated sometime before 1709, referring to the prepared skin of any goat-like animal, specifically the European Antelope — commonly called the "chamois" — and exclusively used by the glovemaking industry of southwest France. It was discovered that when tanned in the local cod oil of nearby Biarritz, the result was a material of unprecedented absorbency. This leather was fashioned into soft white gloves designed for carriage footmen, who were responsible for the care and polishing of carriages. This industry usage later transferred to the chauffeurs of the "horseless carriages" invented in the early 1900s. The popularity of chamois leather greatly increased with the advent of mass-produced automobile windshields, which needed to be washed frequently for visibility purposes, but were inconvenient and time-consuming to dry through alternative means.

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