Bonded Leather is it right for your home?

Bonded leather is hugely popular and very attractive to the eye, but it can also be an expensive venture and trap for the unwary buyer.

We provide you some very important information about bonded leather so that you can make an informed decision before you purchase any furniture covered in this type of leather.

Firs of all let us look at what bonded leather is, as the name suggests the leather has been bonded together by adhesive glues so the leather is not a natural “leather” in the strict sense of the word although it contains fragments or leather fibers.

To understand this process we will explain the difference between the two types of leathers on the market.

Normally upholstery leather is produced by the tannery who purchase raw hides from an abotuir the raw hides then undergo a process of liming and cleansing after which they are treated further with special paints.

Often times these hides will have a new “print” or grain rolled on to them to give the hide a clean uniform look and feel.

Bonded leather however are different to the standard leather in many ways.

First off the leather is taken from pieces of scraps or cuttings that were used by furniture manufactures and then these are grinded and pulverized.

Once this is done the pulverized fibers are mixed to a blend of glues which binds the fibers together like much like a sheet of paper and then rolled on to a roller to give flatten the “hide”.

After this process the flattened  ”hide” goes through a machine which sprays a UP coating on to the top layer of the “hide” it is this layer that provides the “hide” with it’s look and feel. Unfortunately though it is only this thin layer of UP coating that provides the leather with it’s strength as well.

After this is done the leather is sold as a Bi-cast leather to manufacturers. Bi-Cast bonded leather has been around for many years and has been mainly used in the production of wallets and hand bags.

Most bonded leathers or Bi-cast leathers are produced as explained above. The advantage of this is a reduced cost “leather” with a unique rustic look and feel.

The disadvantages however are many. One of the major problems with bonded leather is that it has no tensile strength.

Bonded leather has no real strength when it comes to stretching or when pressure is applied to it in an tearing motion. Not only that but there have been cases of this leather becoming a fire hazard as the glue binders used to bind the pulverized fibers is often highly inflammable.

The leather itself has a reduced life expectancy due to the fact that it is only the UP coat that is really providing any strength to the leather.

These are some of the things to consider when making a decision to buy bonded leather against other types of leather.

The most common types of leather you will find in leather furniture.

Leather furniture is to be found everywhere, mainly due to imports from China.

If you have browsed at any one of the major retail stores for a new leather sofa or leather lounge you would have seen or felt the different tyoes of leathers on these leather furniture pieces.

What then is the difference between the leathers that are found in leather furniture and why do tanneries produce these different types of leathers?

The different types of leather found on leather furniture are the result of research and the quest for soft supple and durable leathers by tanneries.

Upholstery Leather production is an art from. Leather hides go through an extensive process before they are upholstered on leather furniture.

The three most common types of leathers you will find are Corrected Grain and Full Grain Leather. Lets look at these two types and the difference between the two and why they are produced by tanneries.

Corrected Grain Leather:

As the name suggestes the natural grain on these leathers has been “corrected’ or eraised and a synthetic print is then stamped on to it by means of huge metal rollers.

Corrected Leathers make up about 80% of the overall sales in leather furniture world wide, this is because they are the most available and command a reasonable price in the Commodity Market. The reason why the grain if corrected is because the majority of the raw materials used in leather furniture come from cattle hides that have lots of scars and marks on them.

These scars and marks are not acceptable in most Western Markets and so the tanner has to get rid of them by means of buffing them and subsequently the grain from the hide and then putting a new print on it.

This process gets rid of the scars and marks and makes the hide look like it has a clean uniform grain all over the hide. This is then makes the leather furniture look like a=it si covered in leather that has no blemishes in it.

The downside to Correcting Leather Hides is that the softness of the leather is reduced due to the amount of pigment and the heavy rolled corrected pattern that is pressed on to it.

Tanners will have many methods to compensate for this feel degradation but essentially the consumer receives an affordable leather furniture.

Next time you enter a store look for a definite grainy pattern on the leather and ask the salesperson if it is Corrected Grain Leather. You will be surprised at how surprised they will be that you “know” something about leather and possibly deal with you with more respect.

Full Grain Leather:

As the name suggests this leather is produced using a better grade of raw material that has little or no scarring and marks. Because the leather hides are clean they are more expensive to buy on the Commodity Markets and therefore are more expensive to sell.

The upside to Full Grain leather is that little pigment is used and a very light or no grain pattern stamped on to the hides.

This leaves the leather feeling very soft and supple and because they top “skin” hide has not been buffe like Corrected Grain Leathers the leather has a stronger tensile rating ( it will not tear easy ).

Leather furniture covered in Full Grain Leather is generally very soft to the touch and will immediately adapt to the body warmth as you sit on the leather furniture.

There are other leathers such as heavy weight corrected leathers, Rub off leathers used for Chesterfield Lounges these once again fall in to the two categories of corrected or full grain leather.

So if you are looking for leather furniture for your home or office the above leathers will more than likely be the types of upholstery leather you will come across.

Leather Sofa.

During our time exhibiting at Furniture shows one of the most frequently asked question we get is ” What type of leather should I look for when purchasing a leather lounge or leather sofa for my home?”

Surprisingly most retailers do NOT know how to answer this question for a number of reasons.

1: They have no real idea themselves as many do not own a leather sofa or leather furniture.

2: They are afraid to loose a sale, so therefore they tell the client something along the lines that will reassure them  that the leather is “top grain” that comes with a lifetime warranty.

In our experience this a problem that works counter active to the retailers benefit.

We have noted that the most successful retailers who sell high-end leather lounges or leather sofa have well trained  staff when it comes to explaining what kinds of leathers are more suitable to a particular client.

Often time the client will want to know that if they buy a leather sofa that the leather will last given their particular home environment.

The typical salesperson will simply tell them that the leather is guaranteed to last that the leather sofa or leather lounge is covered in “top grain” leather which will last for years.

However this is NOT what most clients who pay good money really want, sure they want an assurance and a guarantee that the leather will last, but they often will more readily purchase if they are told exactly what product will suit their lifestyle, put it simple they don’t want to go through the hassles of having their leather sofa or lounge removed and repaired or worse go through a process of Warranty claims.

Here is one very simple method that has always worked when  converting a visitor to your store who is looking for a leather sofa or leather lounge into a sale.

For example, a salesperson can ask if they have children or grandchildren? do they have pets? will the leather furniture or leather sofa be in a high traffic area? will they eat and drink whilst watching TV?

If the answer is yes to the above, then the best type of leather for them would be a corrected grain leather. YES the cheaper leathers are the best for busy households, this will surprise many, but the client will see that you are NOT trying to make a quick sale by trying to sell up, this method works over and above the high pressure sales techniques.

Corrected grain leathers are treated with more pigment dyes than full grain leathers and are more resilient to scratching and spillages, they will take a better “pounding” than  the more expensive Full Grain Leathers.

Whilst Full Grain Leathers are softer to the feel they will scratch easier since they do not have as much pigment in them.

Yet many retailers feel the pressure to sell the Full Grain Leather since this will mean more profit from the sale regardless of these facts.

This is why in our 16 years experience we have found over and over again that the retailers who inform their clients on the appropriate leather for their lifestyle often convert the sale over the ones who simply just say something like…. “it’s top grain leather that comes with a 5 year warranty”.

An informed client is better able to make a decision there on the spot, once they leave your store without a decision you may as well say good bye to them and that leather sofa sale.

Avanti Leather pushing forward with commercial upholstery articles.

Avanti Leather has been developing their range of upholstery leathers to meet the stringent world standards in commercial environments Aviation and Marine leathers.

It has taken a number of years but we have finaly created the range of leathers for these sectors and now we keep producing and developing other leathers for the commercial and domestic markets.

Avanti Leathers are also one of the very few Leather wholesalers in Australia that carry the internationsl ISO certification.

We are currently being specified for some very large commercial projects that will come to light on this blog in due course.