Telling Leather From Vinyl

How to test for real leather on furniture.

Telling leather from vinyl.

Be on the look out for terms such as pleather or faux leather in contrast genuine leather will be marked as such. If it doesn t say anything at all about the material again it s probably pvc or some other synthetic polymer because real leather would be proudly noted. To learn more about different types of real leather click here how to spot fake leather. How to differentiate the types of real leather from synthetics like vinyl and bonded leather.

It can be tricky to tell if a piece of furniture is made of leather vinyl or a combination of the two sometimes called bonded leather. Here are 4 simple ways to tell the difference between real leather and bonded leather. Leather feels softer warmer more natural. This may be easy for some to determine the difference but others may have a very difficult time in making the decision in this manner.

It seems obvious but read the tag or label. Most people are more concerned about differentiating real leather from faux or fake leather. Vinyl on the other hand feels colder stiffer and artificial. The parts of the seat you touch when you sit in the seat is leather while the sides and back of the seats are often vinyl.

The varying degree of actual leather in the mix versus chemicals affects the smell texture and durability of the product. Run your hand across a piece of furniture to help you determine whether it s upholstered in vinyl or leather. Understand that genuine leather is only one kind of real legitimate leather on the market. If you see 100 real leather full top grain leather or genuine leather you re headed in the right direction.

If you can feel noticeable texture and grain it s probably genuine leather. Next check out the grain of the material. Most cars with leather seats are actually a mix of leather and vinyl. Furthermore unlike real leather which can get softer and even more comfortable over time vinyl tends to slowly turn to feel more like plastic and artificial as the time goes as well as being more prone to cracks.

However the more trained eyes can still differ vinyl from real leather as vinyl may not be as shiny or feel as natural. If it s real leather it will proudly say so. It can be difficult to differentiate between real leather upholstery and manmade faux leather. How do you tell the difference between leather and vinyl.

If the label says man made material it s synthetic most likely flexible polyvinyl chloride pvc. But serious connoisseurs know that there are actually multiple grades of real leather of which genuine leather is actually the second lowest grade.