I just started thinking to buy furniture for my house, and did some research
. I came across this great site www.myfurnitureforum.com with a lot of
information and knowledge in the furniture industry.
Here is an article on leather furniture, I think it's great.
A primer in selecting leather
It just occurred to me I may not have ever made a post about some leather
tips you need to know when you buy leather. Here's a few, and they apply to
every maker for the most part:
Leather Grade: This is a Pricing Grade, not a Quality Grade. Perhaps the
most oft confused element when looking at swatches. Its what the furniture
maker has to pay for the hides. I'm often asked if a Grade 1 hide is good
enough quality to last and the answer is YES, it is. The more expensive
Grade 4 or Grade 5 hide is no more durable or longer lasting, its just more
expensive. What affects the price? Everything from softness and suppleness
of the hide to currency valuations and transport costs. As a rule European
hides are the most costly not only because the Euro vs Dollar, but their
hides tend to be much finer as they don't use barbed wire or have as biting
bug problem. Least expensive hides will come from China and South America.
Leather Color: Does it vary from the swatch? Heck yes! I'm amused when
customers take leather swatches from my handle and take them up to the
window to determine color accuracy, because they might see a 5% difference
from at the sales counter to the window, and in reality a 20 % color
difference between the swatch and actual hide is not unusual. Best way to
look at a leather sample is to put it on a piece of furniture and back up
about eight to ten feet, not at the window. We have a saying in the trade "
If you want a consistent color, buy vinyl." Anilines will vary more than
Finished leathers because they are dipped in a dye, whereas the color is
sprayed on a Finished hide. Its much easier to control the color when its
applied on the top rather than soaked into the leather (remember, cows have
different color skins just like people, and vat dying colors what is already
there).
Leather Thickness: Another element that confuses buyers. I'll let you in on
a little secret, the thickness of the hide varies from where that sample was
taken. A cow does not have the same thickness of hide at all parts of its
body. Its not really much of an issue, as I've never seen anyone wear
through a leather hide on a piece of upholstery - ever.
Quality of the Sample: Leather manufacturers will always try to economize.
Those samples you see on the rack or ring are cut from the scrap, or waste
when they make a piece up. Prime leather goes on the furniture, the scraps
become samples for the dealers! So all rough pieces, sections with wrinkly
belly or neck leather, become the swatch. Your ordered product will be
better than what you see on the samples. So when you look at swatches,
average out the appearance and texture among several in the line. H&M
Document has 25 colorways for example. On a typical handle at least half of
them will be rough or heavily wrinkled. Look at all the colors in a series
and average them out in your mind.
Take the Spill Test: If you have samples of leather from your dealer, take
them into the kitchen and spill things on them! See what stains and what
doesn't. This will aid you greatly in your selection. You'll probably be
amazed at what an 'unprotected' leather can sluff off in a typical kitchen
spill. Dealers pay nothing for sample swatches (unless they are very large),
so don't be worried about ruining one. Choosing a leather is very much
influenced by your lifestyle and what is or is not going to be taken to the
sofa.
Cowhide or Steer Hide?: Cowhide is from the female cow, and it stretches.
Its found on the cheaper furniture. Steer hide is what the better companies
use, and the best is Grade A. Companies like Hancock and Moore and
Leathercraft only use Grade A Steerhide.
Cutting For Approval: Because of texture and color variances most companies
allow you to ask for a CFA (Cutting For Approval) where you can see the
actual leather to be used on your furniture. While this may seem like a good
idea, it will slow your order down by at least one month. Your order must
be submitted by the dealer with the CFA requirement, and a sample cut and
mailed to the dealer, who then must mail it to you for approval. Your order
is NOT scheduled for production until you approve the sample. And if you don
't like it, there is not a second batch of leather to fall back upon, you
have to either wait a few months until more comes in, or select another hide
. CFA's should always be used when ordering an ottoman to match an older
chair, etc., but on all-new orders I don't recommend it because of the
lengthy delay.
Finished Leather: There are several names for Finished leather that is used
interchangeably. You will find them referred to as Pigmented, Painted, and
Protected as well as the term Finished. When hide "crusts" come into a
tannery, they are graded. Those that have too many imperfections to become
an Aniline will then be heavily sanded to remove the flaws in preparation
for tanning. Sanding will destroy the natural grain pattern as well as all '
marks of the trail' including fat wrinkles, scars, etc. The grain pattern is
embossed back into the hide and then a pigmented, or painted, topcoat is
applied along with a protective sealer coat. These leathers will look
perfect upon first glance but can be 'over-processed' in appearance and most
people who like fine leather will not buy in this category. However they
are more resistant to sunlight fade and oily/acid spills than the anilines.
Aniline Leather: Only 2% of hides worldwide are fine enough to become pure
aniline leathers. They require little or no sanding, and are vat-dipped in
color rather than sprayed. All natural markings are left intact including
healed scars, fat wrinkles, bug bites, manure stains, and whatever else that
cow encountered during its life. They are very soft and supple, but will
fade rapidly in direct sunlight. Some stains will soak in with potential to
ruin the leather, including heavy oils, acids like vinegar and ammonia, and
the like. They will be more costly than Finished leathers, and often develop
a wonderful patina over time.
Semi-Aniline Leather: A hybrid that uses the dipping of the Aniline dye with
the protective topcoat of the Finished leather. Will perform like a
Protected leather, but lacks the feel and plushness of the pure aniline.
By-Cast or Bi-Cast Leather: This is not real leather, and in most countries
outside the USA it cannot be sold as 'leather'. This is a product made of
the leather splits, and is applied over a polypropylene sheet then embossed
and painted like finished leather. When a hide is taken off a cow, the
epidermis is split into upper and lower sections. The upper part is called
TOP GRAIN and the lower is called the SPLITS. Splits lack strength and a
cellulose bond, and no reputable leather house covers in splits because they
are not durable like top grain. To get some strength back and minimize
stretching its bonded to the poly sheet. Not recommended, it lacks the
strength of real leather. I throw out all Bi-Cast leather samples from
suppliers and will not sell it.
"Pull-Up" Leather: A hide with a waxy topcoat surface that is designed to
lighten up where its pulled tight to the piece. Makes for some very
interesting effects on furniture. The tightened area will appear lighter
than the loose areas of the chair. With use, the piece develops into several
pleasing shade variations of a color. Recommended for those that like 'real
' leather.
Which leather should I choose for maximum lifespan? The answer here is one
you might not expect! It's not the type or cost of hide that determines the
lifespan, its YOU and how often you are willing to clean your leather. There
are two main elements in leather care. 1) Do not have the piece in direct
sunlight. There is nothing that can stand up to the direct rays of the sun
over time. If the piece has to be in the sun part of the day, look into
applying a solar film to your windows in the house, or get a sunblock spray
from Leather Magic (SPF 80). 2) Establish a cleaning regimen and adhere to
it. I do the leather in my home when the clocks change back and forth to
daylight savings time. Its every 6 months, a constant reminder, and always
on a Sunday. If you fail to keep your leather clean, the accumulation of
body and hair oils, and dirt, will build up on the piece. The first sign
that you are behind on your cleaning is a darkening of the hide usually
where the head contacts the back cushion and tops of the arms. If you fail
to clean it, the dirt and oils will attack the tannins and the leather will
crack, then split. Leather that is never cleaned can crack in as little as
six to seven years. With cleaning and conditioning it will last a lifetime.
My oldest leather piece in my home is a Hancock and Moore Recliner purchased
in 1987 and its still in great shape and perfectly presentable.
How do I clean the leather? You don't need anything exotic. A clean rag with
club soda will do. Wipe it down! Or a bar of plain Ivory soap on a clean
rag, then come back with a rinse rag and get the soap off. Not too much
water, and not too much soap. You can also use recommended cleaning and
conditioning kits that are approved by the furniture maker. If you choose to
use leather products not recommended by the maker you run the risk of
damaging your leather! Some leather cleaning products will be incompatible
with the coating on the leather and attack it. But you will not see this
right away, it manifests in about 9 to 12 months later in the form of a '
peeling' of the leather like the skin from an onion. If your leather
delaminates like this, no maker will replace the hide if you used unapproved
cleaning products and methods.
My dealer wants to sell me a protection plan for my leather, and special
treatment chemicals, should I buy it? No! In my opinion, this is the biggest
rip-offs out there. Most these 'treatment chemicals' are not approved by
the furniture maker. If these 'special products' cause harm to your leather,
its between you and your selling dealer to resolve it, the factory will not
participate. Most of these 'protection' companies will not replace your
furniture should it be ruined for any reason. What they will do is allow you
an 'allowance' on a pro-rated basis towards the purchase of a new piece
from your selling dealer. So, your $ 4,000 leather sofa that has a warranty
claim under these protection sofa and is 5 years old may only qualify for a
$ 1,500 credit towards the price of a new piece. Follow the cleaning regimen
listed before and you don't need protection plans!
Do I buy the inexpensive leather I can afford or get the costlier higher end
leather I really want? I am asked this quite often. That answer is YOU have
to decide after considering your budget in contrast to the overall lifespan
of the piece. Lets say the sofa model you like is $ 2,500 in the
manufacture's promotional leather, and $ 3,500 in the one you really like.
Yes, you have to pay the extra $ 1,000 up front, but when you consider that
the average lifespan before replacement is 25 years on the piece (if you
keep it clean and out of the sunlight), then the leather you really want is
costing you an additional $ 3 a month over the lifespan of the piece. I've
had dozens of customers say to me a year or two later "I wish I had got the
leather I really wanted but at the time it seemed like too much to spend". I
have never had the first customer tell me "I wish I had gone with the
cheaper leather and saved the money" when they ordered a more luxurious hide
. So my recommendation is to buy what you can comfortably afford, but keep
in mind it will be in your home for a long time given reasonable care.
Will my dog or cat destroy leather furniture? Probably not. Cats that have
their front claws can rip a leather piece to shreds if they set their mind
to it, but in 25 years of selling leather furniture there has only been one
cat/one customer that this happened to. Dogs generally will not bother
leather furniture but if you have a protected leather they can scratch the
topcoat if they 'dig' in the seat, and if you have non-protected leather
they can stain it with their body oils if over time if they are on it a lot.
One thing nice about leather furniture and pets is it cleans up so easily.
Pet hairs do not stick in the weave like they do with fabric pieces, and can
simply be vacuumed away on leather pieces.
Do more expensive leathers last longer? No. When you buy higher end hides
you are paying for the luxury of the feel of a particular hide, or the
appearance. You are not buying a longer lasting leather.
Do you recommend protected or unprotected leathers? It depends on usage and
lifestyle. On barstools, office chairs, and recliners I most often recommend
a protected hide or if an unprotected leather try them out using the 'spill
test'. If you have a small army of kids that will be on the piece, then
protected leather works best for most. But if there is limited food and
drink brought to the furniture, then the luxury and tactile feel of the
unprotected hides is hard to beat. I personally buy only unprotected hides
in our house as I like the look and feel of "real leather" and we have had
no staining or usage issues over the years, even with two kids and a dog.
Are Chinese leathers safe? Good question. It appears every time you open the
paper there is something new about how Chinese-made materials for export
have something discovered that wasn't supposed to be there. There is a a lot
of Chinese leather on the market, and in use by all the major companies. So
far, so good. But there currently is a huge consumer backlash against
products from China and the furniture makers are aware of that and working
hard to source non-Chinese leathers. South American leathers are up and
coming, and either the same price as hides from China or just slightly more
expensive. Expect to see more hides coming from Argentina and Brazil.
I want a leather from the USA. You're not going to get it. OSHA and the EPA
forced closure of virtually all American tanneries in 2008. Leather tanning
is a dirty business, for the workers and the environment. There is one small
tannery left in Chicago that I know of, and they do sports equipment
leathers for the most part. All leather for furniture is now imported,
though quite often the 'crusts' or the raw hides, originate from the USA (
China has no cattle industry for example) are shipped over for the tanning
process and return as hides ready to upholster.
I'm concerned about sticking to the leather in the summer and that its cold
in the winter: Good leathers don't feel that way, but heavily top-coated
ones on cheap furniture (like the ones at Costco) will. When you buy better
leathers, they adapt to your body rapidly and are cozy in the winter, and
comfortable in the summer.
Leather or Fabric? On average, leather lasts four times longer than fabric,
is more hypo-allergenic, and easier to clean. It will cost more than most
fabric-covered pieces by about 30 %.
What is "Married Cover"? We already know that all hides are imported, so "
Married Cover" is simply a term the industry uses when they have a cover for
a particular frame cut and sewn in the same country as where the leather
tannery is located, then applied to a frame made in the USA. Labor savings
is significant, and that savings is passed onto the customer via a reduced
sales price. Most often this is done with Chinese leathers and product. The
leather is marked, cut, and sewn then put in a box for shipment as a 'kit'
to the USA. The imported 'kit' is married to the USA-built frame on the
production line. There is no difference in the frames and components, only
in the hide. I'm frequently asked my opinion on married cover, if I think it
measures up to leather that is cut and sewn in the USA? The answer is
mostly that it does, but it really depends on the maker. In Hancock and
Moore's married cover program I can see no difference whatsoever. In
Bradington Young's program I will notice hideflaws on some pieces that would
have been trimmed out had the piece been done totally in the USA.
Nonetheless, "Married Cover" can offer some incredible values and savings
over the fully-USA-made items. Downsides? Only a few colorways to choose
from per piece, and you cannot match a set (sofa/chair/ottoman) exactly as
the kits could have been made from different tannery runs at different times
. And obviously there are no CFA's on married cover as its already cut and
sewn.
Suedes and Nubucks: These are made from the splits of the hide, and lack the
durability of top grain leather. While very plush and appealing, they are
NOT suitable for everyday use and are very difficult to keep clean. I would
suggest use only on decorative side panels and pillows, etc. or in very low
use situations. Do not cover a family room sofa in Suedes and Nubucks unless
you are prepared to replace it within 10 years or less. Suedes and Nubucks
are great for the back side of leather pillows, however. Leather on Leather
will slide, and the Suedes will 'bite' onto the leather and keep the pillows
in place.
