Faran From Walham Explains, How One Can Identify Genuine Leather

1. Check the surface grain, the little “pebbles” and pores, for imperfections and uniqueness that signal genuine leather. Imperfections, in leather, are actually a good thing.
2. Press into the leather, looking for creases and wrinkles. Real leather will wrinkly under the tough, just like real skin. Synthetic materials usually just depress down under your finger, retaining rigidity and shape
3. Smell the leather, searching for a natural, musty smell instead of plastic-like or chemical-y.
4. Use the fire test, recognizing that it will likely ruin part of the good.
   1. Real leather will only char slightly, and smell a bit like burnt hair.
   2. Faux leather will actually catch flame, and smells like burning plastic
5. Note the edges, as real leather has rough edges where faux has even, perfect edges. Machine made leather looks machine cut. Real leather is made of many strands, which naturally fray around the edges. Faux leather made from plastic has no such strands, meaning the edges are cleanly cut.
6. Bend the leather, looking for it to change color slightly in real leather. Similar to the “wrinkle test,” real leather has a unique elasticity when bent, changing color and wrinkling up naturally. Faux leather is much more rigid and regular, and will usually be difficult to bend by comparison.
7. Drop a small amount of water on the good, as real leather absorbs moisture. If the good is fake, the water will simply puddle up on top. But real leather will absorb a small drop of water in only a few seconds , telling you quickly if it is genuine.

Knowing the Different Types of Real Leather.

Types of real leather are:

1. Full Grain Leather
2. Top Grain Leather
3. Genuine Leather
4. Bonded Leather

Purchase “full grain” leather for only for the most high-end products. Full grain leather only uses the very highest (closest to the air) layer of skin, which is the toughest, most durable, and most beloved. It is left unfinished, meaning it has completely unique characteristics, creases, and coloring. Because of the smaller amount of leather on the surface of each animal and the difficulty of working with full grain toughness, the price is understandably high.

• Be aware that some manufacturers will report something is “made with full grain leather” even if only parts of the chair or sofa are full grain. This is another reason why buying without seeing the good is rarely recommended.

Search for “top grain leather” to get high-quality goods at a much more reasonable price. The most common “luxury” leather is top grain, which takes the layer of skin just below full grain and works it lightly to remove imperfections. It is smoother and more consistent than full grain, but easier to work as well, keeping the price down.

• While note as durable as full grain, it is still a strong, well-crafted leather.

Know that “genuine leather” usually has a suede side or feeling to it.Genuine leather is made by stripping off the harder, more expensive grains from the top, then using the softer, easier to work leather underneath. It is not as durable as full or top grain, but it is much cheaper since it can be manufactured into a variety of goods with ease.

• Remember — genuine leather is a specific grade, not the phrase for real leather. If you request genuine leather in a leather shop, they will have a specific type of product in mind.

Stay away from “bonded leather,” which is made from ground up and glued leather shavings. While bonded leather is still leather, it isn’t an unbroken or regular piece of animal skin. Instead, the shavings from all the other leather grades are collected, ground up, and mixed with an adhesive liquid to make a piece of leather. Though cheap, the quality is severely lacking.

• Because the quality is less impressive, bonded leather is often used for book covers and other smaller, less worn items.