Telling Leather From Vinyl

How do you tell the difference between leather and vinyl.

Telling leather from vinyl.

How to differentiate the types of real leather from synthetics like vinyl and bonded leather. 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. It can be difficult to differentiate between real leather upholstery and manmade faux leather. How to test for real leather on furniture.

A common faux leather known as bonded leather is. 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. If you see 100 real leather full top grain leather or genuine leather you re headed in the right direction. If it s real leather it will proudly say so.

But serious connoisseurs know that there are actually multiple grades of real leather of which genuine leather is actually the second lowest grade. Leather feels softer warmer more natural. It seems obvious but read the tag or label. Here are 4 simple ways to tell the difference between real leather and bonded leather.

If you can feel noticeable texture and grain it s probably genuine leather. Most cars with leather seats are actually a mix of leather and vinyl. Most people are more concerned about differentiating real leather from faux or fake leather. If the label says man made material it s synthetic most likely flexible polyvinyl chloride pvc.

Understand that genuine leather is only one kind of real legitimate leather on the market. This matters cause a leather conditioner will not help the vinyl sides. 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. 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.

The varying degree of actual leather in the mix versus chemicals affects the smell texture and durability of the product. Vinyl on the other hand feels colder stiffer and artificial. 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. However the more trained eyes can still differ vinyl from real leather as vinyl may not be as shiny or feel as natural.

Next check out the grain of the material. Run your hand across a piece of furniture to help you determine whether it s upholstered in vinyl or leather.