Fabrikoid

Description

[DuPont, formerly Fabrikoid Co.] A brand name for a Cellulose nitrate coated textile that is water-resistant and washable. Fabrikoid, also called Imitation leather, was processed using Amyl acetate and Castor oil and was produced in numerous colors. By 1908, the company was was shipping almost 2 million yards of artificial leather for use in was used for book covers, shoes, belts, luggage, carriage trim, baseballs and the seats covers in many Model T Fords.

Synonyms and Related Terms

imitation leather; artificial leather; manufactured leather; pyroxylin coated textile

Collection Risks

• Fabrikoid had a slight odor when fresh, but with age, the odor became putrid due to the residual castor oil turning rancid or the cellulose nitrate degrading.
• Stretching on the diagonal damaged the embossed grain

Resources and Citations

• Robert Kanigel, FauxReal: Genuine Leather and 200 years of Inspired Fakes', University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2007 (Chapter 2).
• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 203
• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993
• Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982