Leather Buying Guide

Leather has been a popular modern furniture material since the flowering of modern furniture design in the 1920s. As with wine, wood, or similar natural products, consumers shopping for leather furniture will be rewarded for taking the time to educate themselves about various types and construction of leather.

Top-grain leather with splits means that the portions that come in contact with the body are made using top-grain leather and every other area - the sides and back - are constructed with splits. A split refers to stiffer leather made from lower layers of a hide that have been split from upper layers. Split-grain leather is less supple and less durable but still suitable for areas on the furniture that aren't seen prominently and need not be as flexible. This is a more economical choice for those who still want a leather piece of furniture.

Bicast leather, also spelled "bycast," is leather that is split with a layer of polyurethane applied to the surface and embossed. This makes it more durable, tear-resistant, and fade-resistant compared to standard leather. It stays shinier and "newer" looking. The construction of bicast leather eliminates impurities and imperfections in color. Rest assured it's definitely leather; it's simply treated to make it stronger and easier to maintain and clean.

Bonded leather is an artificial material that is 80 percent to 100 percent genuine leather fibers bonded with adhesive and pressed into flat sheets. Bonded leather is constructed into a fibrous mat to create a look and feel nearly if not identical to genuine leather. Like bicast leather, bonded leather is an affordable - and attractive - alternative to full-grain hides.

Vinyl is also known as faux leather. A form of plastic resin made from chlorine and ethylene, vinyl is ideal for stain-resistant furniture. Its smooth surface and water-resistant properties make it easy to maintain. If you havesmall children and/or pets, you might consider vinyl material. It's not the "pleather" of yesteryear; today's vinyl looks and feels soft and comfortable.

Leather match is an economic alternative to full leather. It combines top-grain leather seats with skillfully matched vinyl on the sides and back of furniture. The vinyl is dyed to match the leather. Leather is reserved for the cushions or all places that come in contact with your body. This is an excellent choice for value.

Full aniline leather dyeing is meant for top-of-the-line, full-grain hides that have few surface flaws. This dye, which soaks all the way through the leather, gives the initial color to a skin. Full aniline dye is preferred by recliner users because it will not show scratches to the leather, and it stays softer and more pliable than leather with other finishes.

Semi-aniline dye adds a matching topcoat of pigments and dyes to the surface of aniline-dyed hides to match the preference of those wanting the exact same color throughout an entire piece of furniture. To do that, a light top coating of highly distributed pigments and dyes is added to the aniline-dyed hide.

Pigment dye is a mixture of dye and an opacifying agent, such as white oxide powders. The benefit of a colored pigment dye hide is that it's more uniform and fade-resistant.