Are You Planning To Buy Leather Furniture?

If you are planning on investing in new leather furniture there are a number of things that you should know and consider before you hit the shops. As leather specialists we thought we would share a little knowledge to help you out.

Leather is the most durable natural covering there is. But not all leather is the same. So where do you start?

We suggest that you start with the environment and type of use of your new furniture. So ask yourself a few questions;

· Is the furniture going to be in a high use area?

· Will there be a lot of food and drinks consumed while using the furniture?

· Are pets likely to get on the furniture?

· Will your furniture be subjected to a lot of UV sunlight?

These are important questions when it comes to choosing the type of leather finish best suited to your needs. We will go through these different types and this knowledge will hopefully help you decide what is best for you.

We are focusing on cow hide as this is mainly what is used for furniture. Leather can be placed in three main categories of finish. We will explain these better a little later. But they are namely.

· Unprotected/Natural/Full Aniline/Pure Aniline

· Semi Protected

· Pigmented/Full Finish/Protected

So is every piece of leather the same bar the finish? Well unfortunately not. So there are a few key things you need to know about in relation to the types of leathers used and some tricks used to reduce the price but at a cost to the quality of the furniture on offer.

You see the leather hide market is basically a commodity market. The better quality of a hide will mean a higher price for that hide. The higher the price of the hides used, the higher the price of the furniture. You also have to add to this the quality of the materials in the interiors (timber type, foams, fittings etc.). The key categories of types of leather you will come across are;

· Aniline/Top Grain

· Split Hide

· Bi-cast/Bonded

· Faux/Vinyl

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