H&M grade 2 vs 4 leathers

I was on your site and found a post from 2009 I think that mentioned about overthinking sofas – so I suspect we are not the first

WE "thought" we has settled on H&M September sofas and Document Bordeaux and then we went back and looked at the Capri Bordeaux leather and we both liked it. The concern is it is unprotected leather and I eat popcorn and we drink wine on our couches now and will continue to..

We saw a couple grade 4 “protected” leathers (Antelope Wine) and (Aspen Bordeaux) that we liked (antelope being the best due to less grain)

As far as grade 2 leathers we liked the Document Chestnut and Hanson Claret but do not know anything about them. (We dropped the Document Bordeaux as being too shiny.)

We can afford either but want to be sure we have a long term solution and do not want spend $$ unnecessarily. Do you have a recommendation?

I read your post about a leather protection product but it was not really conclusive. Do you have any update on it? Will popcorn be ok? :-)

Excellent questions.....

Capri is a world-class leather that comes from Germany from a tannery that supplies primarily to the high-end ladies bag makers (Dior, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, etc). There is nothing quite like it and it's pricey as a GR 4. However it gives you a luxury experience that no painted leather from China can even come close to. It's a naked leather, which means there its a pure aniline full top grain with no topcoat on it other than a very light teflon spray. It can stain and pick up oils, it will also sun fade if put in direct sun. It's not too hard to prevent either, you just have to know it can happen. Most things like a wine spill or popcorn are no big deal, if it gets on the leather simply blot it up and forget it (do not scrub it). The stain will work itself out in a day to a week in most cases. Severe stains are from chemicals that should not be around most sofas like motor oil, bleach, petroleum based grease, etc and those will be permanent. If you go with a pure naked aniline you will want to stay fairly religious with a maintenance routine every 6 months ot less.

I recommend the barrier product from Leather Solutions for Capri, its a 4 oz bottle ($ 44.99) that you apply once when the piece is new and it will give you a fighting chance against heavy stains. I do demos in the store with it all the time and it's impressive what it can stop. It's extra insurance.

Antelope is a finished leather that is a GR 4. The topcoat is put on very, very thin - and sometimes the color coat can come off in small bits over time. My thoughts are that if you are going to pay a GR 4 price, get Capri or Quintessence.

Document is your basic painted Chinese leather. It's great for buying on deal and promotion because it keeps the price down, however it has very little "wow" factor and tends to look a little over-processed. Hanson is a finished leather that is 2-toned, it has a nice hand to it and is often VERY red in color, not toned like Capri Bordeaux. Make sure you like Red when buying Hanson!

The person that buys Capri is the person that buys a Rolex watch. There is value to it - but do you need it? No, you don't. It's a luxury leather (like the Rolex is a luxury watch) for when you want to treat yourself to something special.