Leather vs PU(bonded leather -*shudder*) vs fabric vs microfiber

[bpaikman]

We happen to have quite a variety of sofa and recliner fabrics in our “sticks and bricks” - over the years, and through several pets, and many kids (only 2 were ours, but lots of neighbor kids), we tried many different fabrics.
The kids TV area had a leather couch bought from Sam’s Warehouse - it didn’t hold up well- not peeling like PU or bonded leather, but it split in places, and the seams came unraveled in a few years.
We again bought new leather sofas for the TV room when we moved, and those are now 15 years old, and look new. Go figure.
At the same time, from a local furniture store, we bought leather chairs for the breakfast area - they must have been bonded leather, because the ‘leather’ started peeling and flaking off, making a terrible mess, in a few years - I got rid of them and got solid wood chairs. But when we bought them, they looked like quality chairs.
We bought recliners for the bedroom about 25 years ago, in a fabric that was new to me - microfiber, I had my doubts about it - it only came in solids and I thought it might show marks and stains too much. They still look fine, and have had very heavy use and many spills. Amazing.
And, lastly, we bought a fabric sofa 30 years ago, and it too, still looks good. It’s a dark print, so I don’t know if it has stains, haha, it doesn’t seem to show.
I’ll probably never buy leather again because it’s difficult to determine the quality of leather, and I prefer the feel of fabric. And that microfiber is impressive - easy to wipe clean. I just wonder why it only comes in solids - a tiny, subtle geometic print or such, would be nice.
Anyhow, there’s my thoughts.

 

[docj]

There are a large number of grades of leather. We have an Ekornes Stressless recliner and sofa and both were upholstered in a premium-tier leather. The chair is 10 years old and the sofa is ~8 and both get daily use. The leather on the chair shows wear, particularly on the air rests, but none of the leather on either piece has any splits or other damage. Yes, those are very expensive pieces but they have lasted well IMO.

 

[MapNerd]

High quality leather that lasts a lifetime will really cost you. Expect to spend a minimum of $5k for just a three seat couch.

You usually cannot even find that kind of furniture in your average furniture store and have to seek it out at specialty boutiques that cater to a different clientele.

I love leather but agree, the vast majority of it used in furniture are just not meant or made to last.

 

[bpaikman]

There are a large number of grades of leather. We have an Ekornes Stressless recliner and sofa and both were upholstered in a premium-tier leather. The chair is 10 years old and the sofa is ~8 and both get daily use. The leather on the chair shows wear, particularly on the air rests, but none of the leather on either piece has any splits or other damage. Yes, those are very expensive pieces but they have lasted well IMO.

I don’t know what kind of leather was on the seats of our 2006 journey, but it was still in good shape at 12 years old and 70,000 or so miles

 

[bpaikman]

High quality leather that lasts a lifetime will really cost you. Expect to spend a minimum of $5k for just a three seat couch.

You usually cannot even find that kind of furniture in your average furniture store and have to seek it out at specialty boutiques that cater to a different clientele.

I love leather but agree, the vast majority of it used in furniture are just not meant or made to last.

You never know - we do have 15-yo couches that we got at an average furniture store that still look new. One thing different about them - the leather isn’t stretched tight anywhere - hard to explain - it’s a soft look, like it’s loosely fitted but it doesn’t look sloppy. anyhow, no significant wear - I’ve wondered if it‘s because it’s not tightly fitted. Go figure. But that’s the same store where we bought the horrible chairs and I had my first experience with ‘PU” leather (pee-yoo is a good name for it - it stinks)
I would much prefer a quality fabric over any kind of leather anyhow, because I just do. ?

 

[DHudson]

Another alternative may be automotive grade vinyl. That is what I am going to do when I recover the sofa and chairs in mine. If you don't know, most of your vehicles "leather" seats are not all leather. Usually only the center section of the seat is leather and the sides are vinyl. When I was a New Car service manager, we would have the side of the seats that WERE covered in leather, recovered in vinyl. It wore so much better, and eliminated "comebacks". It looked and felt like leather. It is heavy duty, has a nice feel to it and good quality vinyl wears great. Here is the seat in my 73 Pickup that was recovered a good 30 years ago. This truck has over 1,000,000 miles on it and that seat has most of them on it.

 

[bpaikman]

That does look good.

 

[FL-JOE]

Another alternative may be automotive grade vinyl. That is what I am going to do when I recover the sofa and chairs in mine. If you don't know, most of your vehicles "leather" seats are not all leather. Usually only the center section of the seat is leather and the sides are vinyl. When I was a New Car service manager, we would have the side of the seats that WERE covered in leather, recovered in vinyl. It wore so much better, and eliminated "comebacks". It looked and felt like leather. It is heavy duty, has a nice feel to it and good quality vinyl wears great. Here is the seat in my 73 Pickup that was recovered a good 30 years ago. This truck has over 1,000,000 miles on it and that seat has most of them on it.

I totally agree with you. I have been in 10 and 12 year old cars in Florida that have leather interiors and they are not cracked and they are not peeling. They could either be a real leather material or high grade vinyl for automotive use, I probably wouldn't know the difference. RV furniture makers should go visit some auto factories maybe.