The smell and feel of a plush leather furniture gives the feeling of luxury and quality. However, did you know that not all leathers are created equal?
Leather can undergo complex treatment processes in order to create numerous furniture products, hence the many different terms being thrown around. All the different types of leather have their own characteristic look and feel and thus, are used for different purposes. Here, we demystify the various types of leather used in making furniture.
Legend
Cost: Affordable to Expensive
Durability: Wears Out Easily to
Very Lasting
Fragility: Fragile to Very Sturdy
Bonded
Cost
Durability
Fragility
To create bonded leather, leather scraps and fibres are mixed together, and then formed into a roll using adhesives or
other bonding materials. In fact, the manufacturing process is very similar to making paper. After the roll is formed,
it goes under drying equipment to reduce the moisture content. Since it usually contains only 10 to 17 percent leather fibres,
some industry experts do not consider it real leather and express concerns with it being marketed as such.
However, before you scoff at it, bonded leather does has its advantage as a furniture material. Firstly, it is highly durable.
Secondly, it contains low levels of environmentally unsafe formaldehyde as it doesn't undergo chemical tanning and is therefore
suitable for people with leather allergies. Lastly, bonded leather furniture is significantly cheaper than real leather.
Full Grain
Cost
Durability
Fragility
Full grain leather, is the leather that is formed just by removing the hair present on the epidermis of the hide.
The whole hide is used, not just some layers of it. Except for hair removal and soaking in some form of natural dye like
analine vegetable dye, it is basically untreated leather. No polishing and finishing is done to the grain.
Although there may be imperfections on the leather, as it retains all of the original texture and markings of the original hide,
this kind of grain tends to look and feel better with time. As such, it is usually the most expensive kind of leather furniture
available.
Top Grain
Cost
Durability
Fragility
The leather, otherwise known as corrected grain or full grain pigmented, is taken from the outer layers of the hide and is
the toughest leather type. Unlike full grain, top grain is usually buffed to remove any imperfections.
Top grain leather furniture will typically be more expensive, but will have an incredibly soft feel and will be long lasting.
Split Grain
Cost
Durability
Fragility
After the removal of the top grain, you get split leather from the remaining part of the hide. This leather is harder and cheaper
than full grain leather. Split leather is comparatively more fragile and gets easily damaged if not handled properly.
Nubuck
Cost
Durability
Fragility
This is top grain cattle rawhide leather that has been sanded or buffed on the grain side, giving it the appearance similar to
velvet and suede. It has a more uniform appearance because the exterior is sprayed with a finishing agent.
It is cheaper as compared to full grain leather. However, nubuck furniture is fragile in nature and requires careful maintenance.
A waterproofing treatment is mandatory to keep the material looking good.
Bi-cast
Cost
Durability
Fragility
It is made by gluing a sheet of polyurethane colour to a split grain. It has the appearance of top grain leather,
at a fraction of the cost. Bi-cast does not age well. In fact, it cracks and peels when exposed to too much friction. So,
make sure that you purchase bi-cast furniture knowingly and not because you were led to believe it is real leather.
Faux Leather
Cost
Durability
Fragility
As the name suggests, this is not real leather. It is man-made leather made from synthetic materials such as plastic and
rubber-coated fabric. Faux leather has come a long way as the technology has resulted in great improvements in the material composition,
thus increasing the comfort level of such sofas. It is durable, looks like original leather and is the cheapest type of leather for
furniture.
