Horror Story or Heaven? How do you like your leather? COMPARISON

Those of us in the business know that our customers select leathers based on color, off of a small swatch. The "Color" is 90% of the decision making process, and while important, you have to get beyond that and use other criteria in your leather selection. To buy on color alone is a mistake. You have to know the type of hide you are getting, and the pros and cons of each. When a customer complains about their new leather furniture, either to me or direct to companies like Hancock and Moore or Bradington Young, you can bet money it's because they ordered a pure aniline hide and have only ever seen a finished leather.

Last summer I had an incident where the lady of the house ordered a new sofa (pure aniline) and her husband was home to receive it. When it arrived, he flipped out pretty badly, calling me on the phone in a rant about the "sofa full of leather damages" and refused it. The sofa made a long trip back from the West Coast and there was nothing wrong with it, he had simply failed to understand what they had ordered and it was a pure aniline, burnished leather.

Today I unpacked a new H&M Utopia Sofa in Hyde Park Earth Burnished and put it on the showroom floor (part of the Just in Time promotion). It's superb!

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Now, what you can't see in that photo above is what I am going to show you in detail on the side panel, and all the nuances you get with a wonderful, pure aniline Italian leather that has been left in its natural state as much as possible. This is what I buy for myself, and I don't look at marking's as flaws and defects, but as being natural and not overly processed. And leathers such as this, while they can sun-fade easier and absorb some stains, will look terrific over the years given reasonable care. Now, check out all the markings and my notes:

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As a comparison, here's what most people expect of their leather. This is a finished leather out of China, its been sanded down to remove markings and defects, the grain pattern has been embossed back into the piece, and then its painted. <yawn>

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Big difference, yes? That's why its so important to know what you are buying. Novice leather buyers will usually get the finished leathers, because that's what they know. But the real fun in owning leather furniture is when you move into the pure anilines. Be sure you get educated so you know what to expect when your new piece arrives.

I mentioned in another thread that I used to own 2 Hancock and Moore Woodbridge recliners that I bought in 2015. I kept them about 2 years. They were covered in a leather called Ryder Wine. It was in one of the promotional programs at the time. The workmanship was superb, but I burned up in those chairs in the summer and the leather was too slick for me. I used one of them for my main chair and evidently the oils from my head are hard on leather--- it was starting to lose color where my head rested. The mistake was the dealer told me I didn't have to do anything to the leather-- Big mistake. I think I would probably enjoy a recliner covered in the pure aniline or a leather that is between pure painted and pure aniline. I want a leather that is soft and buttery and not slick as glass. I've learned its best to go ahead and pay to get what you want. I've lost enough money on furniture getting rid of it when its 1-3 years old and I could have paid for a few H & M nice pieces.

"Ryder" was used as an inexpensive promotional leather, cut and sewn in China as a married cover. It was heavily processed and I never carried it in my store because I don't care for the leather itself. Unlike a lot of dealers, I won't sell or promote something I don't like just to show the lowest possible price in an item. My thinking has always been "If I won't own it in my own home, then why would I promote it?". For the same reason, I don't stock the current leather on promo items that replaced Ryder, and that is Alberta. I still have customers who do order Alberta, however if they ask me about it I will tell them straight up that it's not something I would own myself.

What folks should do - and I know it's not the easiest thing - is to look at the longevity potential of the furniture frame and then buy the cover accordingly. For example, it's pretty easy to get 30 years out of a Hancock and Moore piece. I have a Woodbridge Recliner that I recently gave to my daughter that I bought in 1986 and its still going strong. If the cheap, promotional leather recliner is $ 1,399 and the one covered in a nice leather that you really want is $ 2,799, then you say "It's not worth it to me". BUT....if you look at that 30 year lifespan and do the math, the one in the premium leather costs you $ 3.88 per month more. We all spend more than that each month without thinking twice about it on repeating items and subscriptions (Amazon Prime, Spotify, Pandora, iCloud storage, etc). Isn't it worth that to come home every night and sit into a recliner you enjoy rather than one you simply made do with?

That's how you have to approach it, or at least consider it.

i wonder if the guy's wife was mad that he sent back the sofa she picked out! Sucky situation, I am sure most of the parties involved lost money and time.

I love the look of leather and its nice and smooth, but I don't think I'm cut out for it. As I mentioned in this same thread a few weeks back I used to own some H&M recliners that I got rid of because they were hot to me. I just had 2 new Sami recliners delivered on Friday and I think I've made another expensive mistake, but they are staying here if I have to cover them with a quilt to sit in them. That's one way to preserve the leather for sure- LOL. They are covered in Kip leather which I know is a protected leather, but it does have a better hand that the old H&Ms recliners I got rid of a few years back. But its still hot to me. Am I the only person around who finds leather to be hot? I had thought about ordering the Sami's in fabric, and I wish I had now. I don't sit in the room they are in very often, and I guess it will continue to be that way, because I don't like being hot sitting in chairs.