Leather is one of the oldest and also one of the most eminent materials to have such versatile usage, even in today’s world. From jackets and wallets to handbags and belts, leather can be and is being used in almost all product-based industries.
Leather is a natural product and is more unique in every inch more than what you can notice first hand. It bears the marks of its origin including any scratches, scales or points of growth and so on.
Such characteristics add to its market value. For furniture, there are different kinds of leather in production, all to satisfy the customer’s demands. Here are a few things you should know before you go out to purchase leather furniture or any other product.
How to choose leather furniture?
Here we bring you a list of things you should keep in mind before buying leather furniture:
- How Leather Becomes Marketable
The leather upholstery on your couch you so much enjoy has a long history and has undergone a long and tedious process before it got ready for use. After the skinning process, the hide is dried in the sun for many days and then cleaned.
The process of curing the animal skin, also called tanning, is what finally creates leather. The cattle skin is the most common in this industry, being the most common. The places which tan the skin, called tanneries, produce only one kind of leather. Leather having a range of price is because of the process that follows after the tanning.
- The Making of the Upholstery Leather.
The upholstery on the leather furniture has a range has a long-range of pricing depending upon the quality and the finishing of the final product. Before coming to the tanneries, the cattle hide is salted so that it doesn’t deteriorate with time and heat.
This process is essential to preserve the quality of the material. The skin undergoes a long chemical process where the hair and other unnecessary elements are removed or dissolved. The chemical process also makes the leather thicker. In earlier days, vegetables and urine were used for the tanning process, but the process has become much more sophisticated with time.
- Some Special Kind of Leather
While cattle skin constitutes most of the raw materials of leather, there are a few varieties that pique the interest of wealthy buyers. Snakeskin and Crocodile leather hold a high place in the leather hierarchy, also known as exotic leather, made from rare animals.
Other such varieties include Armadillo leather, Antelope leather, Camel leather, Fish leather, Ostrich leather, Turtle skin among various others. The hide of these animals need to be handled with care and cannot merely be made to undergo the same tanning process as other kinds. Moreover, since these animals are either too ferocious or too rare or too difficult for the manufacturing process, the price of the finished leather product is much higher.
- Leather Used In Making Furniture Upholstery
The kind of leather used in making premium wallets, belts, handbags, car seats, sofas, among other things is usually the exotic kind. Regular leather cannot command the same price as the rare kinds. But when it comes to making furniture, one cannot go about killing hundreds of thousands of these precious animals for the sake of seat covers.
While the rich are better off and have the provision and the resources of getting their hands on a sofa made up of ostrich skin entirely, a person with a regular budget cannot do so. In the proper kind of leather, there are various varieties, knowing which could come in handy in the future. Companies like Wellington’s Fine Leather Furniture offer a wide range of leather options at the best price, so you must check their furniture products now!
- Various Kinds of Upholstery Leather
There are varieties of furniture upholstery being used to manufacture sofa and chair covers. These include Pigmented Leather, Aniline Leather, Semi-Aniline, among a few others. Pigmented Leather gives the smoothest and the most consistent look on a sofa. Pigmented leather is also the most durable of all.
When one goes with the Aniline variety, one notices the most natural-looking leather upholstery on furniture covers, with the natural characteristics of the animal hide still being visible and very much tangible. Some coating might be applied to it before it becomes marketable so that it doesn’t get soiled ever so quickly.
- Maintenance of Upholstery Leather
The idea itself of having a leather product is very much enticing. It becomes all the more exciting to have a leather sofa increasing the value of your living room, but before one goes ahead with the idea, they should be aware of the care and effort it takes to maintain such an item.
Pigmented leather doesn’t require much maintenance and is durable on its own. If you plan to go ahead with the Aniline or Semi-Aniline variety though, you need to be extra careful about preventing any marks or scratches that can happen from regular use wear and tear.
- Semi-Aniline Leather
Pure Aniline leather is covered only with dye. To protect it from soiling quickly, it is covered with a coating. Even then, top maintenance is required so that it remains durable even under direct sunlight or liquid spillage.
If one plans to go with the semi-aniline variety, they will be saving a lot on the maintenance costs and effort as it is more durable than the pure kind. This happens while maintaining the natural animal hide look.
Semi-Aniline leather upholstery is achieved with the help of a light coating to make it more durable and last longer. The surface also includes a small amount of pigment. The pigment also makes sure that the leather has a consistent color and texture.
- Comfortability in Leather Sofas
Being comfortable using a leather wallet or a belt is one thing, but when it comes to furniture or sofas, the idea is much more personal than generalized. Even after that, it is considered a status symbol in many communities and cultures to have a leather couch in their living room.
Companies which have long since made their name in the market, claim to put in utmost amount of hard work and toil and time to provide their customers with all the comfort money can buy. So, if you are looking forward to purchasing a lavish, brand new leather sofa to spend hours relaxing on it without any discomfort, going ahead is the only way.
- The Durability of Leather Furniture
Historically, leather products were considered to premium products as comfort to the body was found more to be a luxury than a necessity. Following this ideology, people in many cultures still take care of a leather product, thinking it would deteriorate if not taken proper care.
While this is the right mentality, resting on a leather sofa will tend to give you more stress than relaxation. We have come a long way, and the leather quality has increased manifold. So, if you maintain it, you can enhance durability to the maximum.
Shopping for furniture is a significant decision and requires a lot of time and effort. It becomes all the more hectic if you have a high budget. For this very reason, proper research should be committed and only after an educated guess should such an item be purchased.
