Posted by For many years, leather was considered as one of the top materials to use by many fashion designers. This trend soon spread to the world of bed designs. Today many companies choose to use either genuine or faux leather for creating stylish bedroom accessories. From headboards to footboards and side features, leather has the ability to quickly transform any bedroom into something extraordinary.
It is not always easy to distinguish between genuine and faux leather and it can undoubtedly be very frustrating for anyone who believes they have bought a real leather fabric bed to only discover they have been sold faux leather. Your first step in the identification process is to know the price. Genuine Leather is far more expensive than Faux Leather.
Genuine Leather
Genuine Leather is made from animal skins including goats, sheep, cattle, and pigs. Genuine leather is generally categorized into three subcategories. These are pigmented, aniline and semi-aniline products.
Aniline Leather
This type of leather is of the best quality and features a high grain. This leather is also not applied to any protective treatment. This is the most natural looking leather which is easily stained. It allows for the natural markings of the leather to shine through. If placed in the sun for extended periods of time, this leather will fade.
Semi-Aniline Leather
This is very similar to the aniline leather except it is coated with a light layer of clear finish or pigment. This light-protective coating will ensure that the material lasts longer and appears more even. The coating also protects the leather against staining from spills.
Pigmented Leather
During the process of manufacture of this leather product, the leather is coated with a clear top layer. This gives the leather a shiny appearance making it look less natural. Pigmentation of leather ensures that the product is far more durable and easy to maintain. This type of leather is most commonly used for furniture upholstery.
Faux Leather
Leather is most commonly made from a material base which has been coated with a layer of wax or dye. It is completely man-made and is done so to give the look and feel of real leather. The fabric is also much lighter than Genuine Leather.
Spotting Faux Leather
The two main differences between genuine and faux leather are the durability and quality of the products
Look at the labels All products made from real leather will have this stated on the label. If the label reads manmade materials then you are dealing with a Faux Leather product.
Inspect the edges Products made from Faux Leather will have smooth edges and may feel spongy to the touch while the Genuine Leather product will be rougher.
Smell the product Leather has a distinctive smell which can easily be picked up. There is no way for manufacturers to imitate the smell of real leather. If you do not know what real leather smells like then you might want to pop into a retails which stocks real leather products to get a good sniff to acquaint yourself with the smell.
