Leather furniture is an "evergreen". Especially for seating furniture, the material is very popular due to its durability. Moreover, leather as a material mix in the room is an eye-catcher that sets accents. But if you have children or pets at home, you're never sure if leather is a good choice or if it will quickly get scratched or stained.
The decision for artificial or real leather as a material is not easy and depends on your preferences and your budget. For vegans, faux leather is certainly a good animal-friendly alternative. If sustainability is a criterion for you when buying a leather furniture, then you have to look closely at faux leather. Depending on the material and production process, you may have to make compromises on this point. Here we have noted some advantages and disadvantages and some ideas about both materials:
Real leather - beautiful, natural and breathable
One of the most important arguments for the natural product is its longevity. With good care, products made of real leather last for many decades. It is tear-resistant and robust. However, it is much more sensitive to stains and animal claws than its synthetic counterpart.
Another plus point of real leather is its good breathability.
It is skin-friendly and there are special forms of tanning that make the leather suitable for allergy sufferers. Leather has a pleasant surface. However, to maintain its full beauty, it requires good care. As a natural product, real leather is usually more expensive than faux leather.
In the living area, furniture manufacturers mainly use cowhide. Basically, there is no uniform leather for the production of furniture. Therefore, sheep or lamb skins are also possible. However, they are rather the exception for seating and upholstered furniture. The individual types of leather differ mainly in their manufacturing, tanning and dyeing process. Depending on how the individual processes are carried out and how intensive the treatment of the leather is in detail, this results in leather types of varying quality. For this reason, not every piece of furniture made of leather has to be high-quality & expensive. You should look closely at this.
In the living and dining area, smooth leather has many advantages
In the apartment, dyed smooth leathers with color layer convince. They are particularly easy to care for and easy to clean. Especially for sofas, chairs and other seating furniture, a smooth leather with color layer is recommended: Smooth leathers do not absorb fat, i.e. even with spills at the dining table or potato chips on the sofa, there is no risk of stains.
Faux leather the cheap, creative and vegan alternative
In recent years, a lot has happened in the production of faux leather due to technological development. It is hardly distinguishable from its natural counterpart. There are faux leathers in all imaginable colors and with countless surface structures such as animal or glitter optics to find.
The quality can compete with that of real leather. Faux leather is very easy to care for and (v.a. in its scratch-resistant variants) insensitive to claws. If you share your home with a four-legged friend, this could be an argument for faux leather. And last but not least, faux leather is also an interesting alternative for vegans.
The only drawback: in terms of breathability, it cannot match its natural counterpart. On warm days, you can start sweating on a chair with faux leather cover.
Furniture made of faux leather is perfect for young, style-conscious people who do not want to do without a certain ambiance in their apartment, but find the real leather couch too expensive.
Faux leather easy to care for
Compared to real leather, faux leather is child's play to care for. You can simply wipe a piece of furniture with a faux leather cover with a damp cloth. Removable covers can even be washed in the washing machine.
Upcycling with faux leather
If you are convinced by the faux leather, there are also possibilities to upcycle your existing furniture cost-effectively. With a beautiful new DIY cover made of faux leather, you can realize your idea of your desired furniture in leather look. You save money, conserve resources and are fully on trend.
Conclusion: Real leather, natural and breathable, faux leather the all-rounder
In summary, it can be said: Faux leather is a versatile, very durable material. It is not suitable wherever breathability and water permeability are important - only real leather and Alcantara® can offer these.
