Common Pitfalls When Buying Leather Furniture
Our laws here in the USA don’t really protect or help you when making a decision about buying real leather furniture. False advertising is rampant in the leather furniture industry. I don’t really want to point the finger to go as far to say folks are deliberately selling you leather furniture that is really not all leather but its happens every day.
Leather furniture from club chairs to sectional sofas and even complete living room furniture sets are being sold as leather when they are actually not 100% genuine leather. They can be what is called bonded leather, recycled leather, performance leather, split leather, match leather and even bi cast or faux leather. Furniture manufacturers and retailers are marketing their furniture products as leather because the word leather is used.
Consumers need to know these imitation leathers do not wear or last like top grain leathers. Most of those mentioned are actually coated with a plastic surface which prohibits the product from breathing like upholstery.
This makes for an uncomfortable sit and the surface is sure to peel up and off over time. This applied coating also causes you to stick to the surface and is very cold in the winter months and very hot in the summer. Unlike genuine leather that breathes much like upholstery fabric. Real leather adjusts to its environment room temperature making it extremely cozy and comfortable no matter what time of year.
Other nations pay closer attention to this advertising faux pa. For instance Brazil passed a bill in 1996 that says that only goods that are made of 100% animal skins can be called “leather”. No exceptions. This allows tanneries to oversee the correct use of the word.
Let’s take a quick look at these fake leather products. For instance bonded leather only contains 17% leather. Split leather is what is used on shoe soles or for other garments like belts. Not soft and supple like you would expect from leather furniture. This is not the top grain it is the lower cut of the hide which is very stiff. To make this look like the top grain it is routinely stamped to create a false grain appearance.
There is a reason these discount furniture retailers price seems too good to be true. It is not what you think. So do you wonder what else is contained in a bonded leather? Well its leather scraps or fibers from leather workshops (the floor) bonded together with latex binders to create a look and feel similar to that of “true” leather at a fraction of the cost.
Bonded leather and most of the others mentioned types of artificial leather are not recommended for sofas or loveseats or any furniture manufacturing. These products are much more suited for books, bags or belts not leather chairs or fine furniture. If it is too good to be true than it probably is. When buying leather furniture, Wellington’s offers discount furniture, fair prices on quality furniture upholstered in 100% genuine leather since 1982. We know leather and want you to have the very best true leather furniture for your money.
