WHY LEATHER FURNITURE?
Leather upholstered furniture has been around for centuries and will be around for centuries to come. A classic and durable material leather is one of the most popular materials due to its comfort and durability. Quality leather furniture will provide you with years of enjoyment and may often get better with age. However, in todays marketplace there are lots of products that may offer some lower prices, but may not be as sustainable in the long run in regards to durability and comfort. How do you tell the difference and what should you look for? I hope to answer a lot of these questions for you in this article.
Faux Leathers
One of the most common materials you will find in more promotional furniture is faux leather furniture. These faux or “fake” leathers come in lots of names you may see such as bonded leather, pvc leather, bicast leather, or vinyl to name a few. Many of these materials may have leather in the name, but they are not genuine leather. Materials like bonded leather are compromised of leather scraps which are then ground down and then “bonded” onto a PVC backing. The challenging part to the consumer is to be able to see the difference as many manufacturers of this product often emboss these materials to simulate the pebble grain found in genuine leather. If you are looking for the “leather look” but on a tight budget these may be the solution that you may find meets your needs. However, in my experience I find that the durability of these materials are very thin as most of these are laminates that sometimes are paper thin. Our bodies have natural oils that often break down the top layer and therefore causing the top layer to peel. A simple Google image search using the phrase “Peeling Leather Sofa” will give you all the imagery and articles telling of the numerous stories of how short lived these products can be.