Are you curious to know whether leather conducts electricity or not? Before we explore the topic and answer this question in detail, here is the short answer:
Leather does not conduct electricity, but if it is moist or fresh, then it can conduct electricity. For this reason, we must take care when using protective gear made of leather.
Read on to find out more.
Why it Matters Whether Leather Conducts Electricity
Although many people probably know that leather does not conduct electricity, knowing about its resistivity is important because we may need to use protective gear made of leather to protect ourselves from getting electrocuted.
In particular, many electricians wear leather gloves, especially when working with high voltage. So the real question is: How well do leather gloves protect the wearer from getting electrocuted when working with high-voltage electricity?
To answer this question, we will need to explore what keeps leather a good insulator and what makes it conduct electricity or under what conditions it allows an electric current to flow through it.
What Makes Leather a Good Insulator?
Normally, dry leather serves as a good insulator. Like other good insulators, it successfully prevents electron flow so that electricity does not pass through to the other side.
Compared to other insulators, leather is better able to insulate against electricity because it has high tensile strength and good resistance to flex. Tensile strength is the maximum strain the leather can bear without tearing, and flex is the extent to which a material can bend without cracking under stress.
What Makes Leather Conduct Electricity?
The purpose of protective gear made from leather is to act as a good insulator when working with electricity, so under what conditions does this purpose fail? Its resistivity weakens under two conditions:
- When the leather is fresh
- When the leather is moist or wet
If any of the above applies, working with electricity can potentially be dangerous, especially at high voltage. The leather is no longer protective when fresh, moist, or wet. In this case, there is no guarantee that the protective gear will serve its purpose. The same would be true for cotton, silk, and other materials that are otherwise good insulators.
With this in mind, we should prevent this from happening but not using leather while it is moist or wet and finding a way to increase its ability to resist electricity.
Beware! Do not use protective gear made from leather while it is fresh, moist, or wet when working with high-voltage electricity. The water content will make it conduct electricity. Even whilst dry, leather alone is only a fairly good insulator for working with live electricity of no more than 48V, which is not enough for domestic voltage levels of 120/220V.
Increasing Leather’s Ability to Resist Electricity
To increase the ability of leather to resist electricity, it is normal to combine leather with a layer of rubber. Leather combined with rubber provides a good protective shield against the flow of electricity, even if the rubber layer is a little moist.
With this in mind, the best way to protect yourself from high-voltage electricity is not to wear ordinary leather gloves but to wear specially made leather gloves that incorporate a layer of rubber.
Protective Gloves
Gloves suitable for protection while working with live electricity are usually made not of leather alone but either with a layer of rubber or made completely from rubber. This is because rubber is a much better electrical insulator compared to leather. In the picture below, you will see leather gloves with a layer of rubber on the left, also called “electrician’s gloves,” and another pair of gloves made from rubber alone.
The leather-rubber gloves are suitable for general use as protective gloves when working with high-voltage electricity. They are certified to safety standards EN/IEC 60903 and normally come in class levels 00 and 0 to 4, indicating the maximum voltage they can be safely used for. The typical voltages are given in the table below. Refer to the manufacturer for exact safety information.
| Class | 00 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Voltage | 500V | 1000V | 7.5kV | 17kV | 26.5kV | 36kV |
The rubber gloves are suitable for working with live electricity and give protection of up to 25kV. They are normally used by electricians working with very high-voltage distribution cables. Again, refer to the manufacturer for exact safety information.
Wrapping Up
We asked whether leather conducts electricity. The reason for asking is that certain protective gear is made of leather, and we should know how much safety they can provide and under what conditions they might be inadequate.
Normally, leather is a good insulator, but when it is fresh, moist, or wet, its ability to insulate against electricity can become compromised. The use of leather in protective gear when working with high-voltage electricity is made stronger when combined with a layer of rubber.
Take a look at some of our related articles below.
