Real Leather vs Vegan Leather: How different are they?
Let’s start from the basics. Leather is a natural product made from animal skins that have been tanned. On the other hand, Vegan leather is a material that mimics leather but is a manufactured product.
What is Real leather?
Real leather comes from animal skin of cows, sheep, goats, or pigs. These are the common ones but there are number of variants out there to choose from. These animal skins undergo a process called “tanning” which prevents the decay of animal skin.
Tanning is a ground-breaking process where the animal skin is soaked in water for a long time, along with plant residues. What happens here is that the animal skin absorbs the dissolved tannins from the plant residues and then converts the skin to resistant leather. There are different types of tanning processes, but this is the most basic and most traditional way of creating leather.
Pretty interesting stuff, right?
Now why should you choose leather?
Photo taken at our factory in Regional Victoria.
Leather is known to be long-lasting, durable, and breathes. In our case, since we’re chair manufacturers, leather has a high resistance to tearing, stretching, and bending, – making it a good material for chair use. Since chairs are used for long periods of time and is exposed to different environments, leather is a plus as it is resistant to ageing and extreme temperatures.
This then makes it the best investment for offices who wish to have chairs that last a lifetime.
What is Vegan leather?
Vegan leather or PU (Polyurethane) leather is a type of leather whose material is man-made and created from artificial / plant products instead of animal skins. They’re most commonly made from plastic polymers. They’re a great alternative and are cost-effective because they’re meant to look like natural leather and even comes in a variety of colours, patterns and texures.
In fact, you won’t really be able to tell the difference at first (unless you’re an expert on this field).
Vegan leather may be different from the real leather, but it does have a few similar qualities too. They don’t last forever but will last a long time if used with care. It may also discolour over time when exposed to too much sun.
Here’s a trivia: did you know that Vegan leather is water-resistant? This means that your chair is safe in places where water is prevalent.
With this in mind, Vegan leather isn’t so bad at all and is a surprisingly useful alternative.
To inspire you, check out below some of the chairs that we offer in both real leather and vegan leather. Our customers and clients who have purchased either one of them were very happy and pleased.
Rhythm, Italian Collection, Power, Memory Replica, Soul and Ottomans
(Kindly note that the Memory Replica high stitched is now phased out. Medium stitched is our only available size)
If you’re looking for something else, Capisco offers custom upholstery on all of our chairs. So if you have a specific fabric in mind, we’ve got you covered.
Send us an enquiry via the link below:
https://capiscofitoutseating.com.au/contact/
Resources:
https://www.btod.com/blog/what-is-pu-leather/
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/fashion-news/a30640996/vegan-leather-sustainability/
