Everything you need to know about buying leather sofa| StyleLiving

              

               The living room is the place where you spend most of your time at home. Sofas are the focal point of any living space. So it is important to think carefully about which sofa is right for you and how to choose the right item, this is especially important when you are buying a leather sofa. Leather is a natural upholstery material .For durability, comfort and pure luxury, nothing beats leather furniture.This time-honored material gets softer and more supple with age, and a smart, stylish leather sofa can last a lifetime.

Before you think more about style and design when buying leather furniture. First, you need to make sure it is genuine.If you have some basic knowledge about this subject, it should be very easy to find out whether the leather you are looking at is genuine or not. Styleliving takes you through the key to finding the right leather sofa for you.

Check the Price and label

Real leather is of course much more expensive than imitation synthetic materials. Regardless of the leather type, real leather is always going to cost more than PVC so if you think you’ve bagged an unbelievable bargain double check that you’re not buying a fake.

Many genuine leather products include a label indicating that the product is genuine leather. If the tag states "full-grain," top-grain" or "genuine leather" and uses no other leather terminology, the sofa is most likely made of real leather.Manufacturers are eager to show that their products are the real deal so the label should be easy to spot. In some cases, though, that may not be enough. A sofa may be lacking a label, or the label may be unclear, or you may be unsure about the provenance of the sofa, so you need other ways to check.

Appearance

Real leather, being animal skin, will have a slightly uneven and irregular pattern, and may even contain subtle marks, creases and imperfections All of this is a good thing and indicates that it is more likely to be real leather, while a highly perfect and uniform appearance is more likely to suggest fake leather.

Touch and feel

If you can, try gently pressing and squashing the leather, and get a sense of whether it wrinkles like skin, or stays rigid and keeps its shape. Fake leather is typically very rigid and inflexible. Real leather is much softer than synthetic imitations and also much more supple and malleable. When you sit on real leather upholstery, it is warmer and more pliable than synthetic, artificial materials.

Inside out

There is perhaps no better indicator of whether the material is the genuine article than taking a look at the back. Try and open a cushion casing to examine the backing. It should be similar to coarse suede. If it is a woven cloth then it is fake. 

Examine the Edges

The edges of the leather furniture are also a good indicator of its authenticity. Fake leather will have a perfect, smooth edge that feels plastic. Real leather, when cut, shows a clear grain with lots of strands that will fray slightly over time.

Smell the leather

Genuine leather has an unmistakable smell which is like nothing else. Although the smell of a sofa is a little harder than a jacket or handbag, it is still a useful experiment as it is very difficult to replicate the authentic smell of leather, and in fake leathers they may have a plastic or chemical odor, which is clearly distinct.

Request a sample swatch

You need to ensure that the colour of the sample swatch matches all sides of the couch. Do keep in mind that the grain will be different at all sides, so the pattern may be different, but the colour should not, make sure this matches.

Examine the padding

Keep the bottom of the cushions in mind. The leather needs to be able to breathe in order to maintain its quality over time. Genuine leather sofas are made quite a bit different to fabric sofas. Remember, quality leather sofa cushions are made out of tightly-woven material in order to allow breath-ability and longevity of the leather.

About Leather

The most important consideration when purchasing a leather sofa is the type of leather. Most people are more concerned about differentiating real leather from faux or fake leather.  Your lifestyle will determine which is right for you. While all real leather is made from animal skins, mainly cattle hides, the part of the hide and how it's processed affect the look, feel and durability. What type of leather is it and how has it been treated? Real leather sofas can be made from a variety of grades of leather, which generally represents how much of the hide is used for the final fabric. These are some key things to know about leather.

Full grain leather

Full-grain leather comes from thick buffalo-hides that have not had the top layer sanded or buffed off. This make them highly resilient but also means that have the most natural variation in appearance as the grain of the leather includes any marks and imperfections on the skin of the animal that the hide came from. This gives them an attractive authentic-looking appearance and means they gain a natural patina over time.

Top grain leather

Leather described as top-grain is generally corrected-grain leather, which means that it is generally made from a slightly less perfect hide but has had the surface lightly buffed to remove marks or damage, and then had a grain pattern artificially applied, so will have a much more uniform appearance.

Split leather

Split leather is, as its name suggests, made by splitting the bottom few layers of a hide away from the rest of it, meaning that the top surface with its variation in pattern is lost, and a thinner and less hard-wearing but very uniform and smooth leather is left. Because it comes from the middle of a hide, split leather is generally used to make suede, but can also be embossed and treated to look like top-grain leather.

Bonded leather

Bonded leather is the cheapest type of real leather and is made from scraps and off cuts of other leather, formed together with polyurethane or latex and embossed with a leather-like surface pattern. Although these are less authentic and supple, not being made from a single hide, they are much more cost-effective and are still real leather, with some of the smell and feel of higher-quality leather types.

Hopefully you have learned enough to make you a leather expert, if not, maybe enough knowledge to guide you into making a good buying decision. To find the most selection, better quality options, and knowledge visit a leather specialty store in your city.

Advice on buying a sofa, including sofa size, frame material, filling, style, fabric,placement and purpose,Visit- https://stylelivingkerala.blogspot.com/2020/05/things-to-consider-before-buying-sofa.html