Leather - Off Gassing - Which brand is best

[moon1234]

We recently got rid of an older cochrane fabric love seat that was shot after 10 years. We have owned a sectional leather couch from Legacy Leather Inc (Mason collection) that is Analine leather for a few years. It seems like a nice couch, however I have a few questions.

We have a buch of little kids now that we did not have when we bought the inital furniture. We are more aware now of the materials that are used in our clothing, bedding, furniture, etc. We would like more non-toxic, natural materials.

My wife would like to replace the love seat with a recliner. I know, that sort of caught me off guard too. I looked at the materials label on the Legacy sectional that we already own and it says:

- Polyester (which I assume is in the seat back cushions)
- Polyurethane (Which I assume is in the seats)
- Reclaimed fibers (Have no clue what these are. How is this legal?)

The label says the couch was made in Canada.

I have found a lot of people on internet forums reporting that they are getting skin rashes, respiratory problems and other ailments from leather furniture that has the tanned hides sourced from China. How is a guy supposed to know if the couch he buys today has been tanned with substances that will not make his family sick?

We were thinking of buying a recliner from Legacy, but now we are not so sure we can trust leather items anymore. Is there any way to make sure we don't get something toxic? Is Legacy a reputable company that I don't need to worry about? Is leather safe to let kids play on? Is it safe for us?

I would like to know from those here that are experienced in this market if we can trust companies like Legacy, Palliser, etc? I believe Legacy to be a mid-level company (quality wise) in the leather furniture business. Do you think their current products could contain leather that could cause similar health problems?

Do some furniture companies use other padding materials like cotton or wool for seat backs and Natural latex foam for seat cushions? I see on Legacy's website they are now stating they use synthetic foam sourced from soybean oil. Is there a reason other than cost that we don't see more natural materials in our furniture? I would think natural latex foam from the rubber tree would be best.

Please help direct me towards a company that cares about the health of their customers while at the same time making a quality product. It seems so many companies now care only about price and have no regard for the health of their customers or what happens to the item when it has lived it's useful life.

Thanks,
Matt

[drcollie]

Matt,

In general terms, I don't think you're going to find what you are looking for in any leather product from any maker. All leather has to go through a tanning process as I'm sure you know, and the chemicals used in getting any leather suitable for use would make any environmentalist run for the hills. The tanning process is nasty business, so much so that the EPA and OSHA have effectively closed all USA tanneries. At one time many decades ago Boston MA was the leather capitol of the world, but dumped so many pollutants into rivers and streams that it really was the beginning of the environmental awareness due to dirty water run-off of the tanneries. There are carcinogenic agents used in the tanning process of all leathers, and of course the trick is to control the pollutants and poisons in the tanning process so it doesn't affect either your workers, your customers, or the environment. I'm sure some countries manage that better than others, for example I would expect a hide coming from a German or Swedish tannery to have more protections in place than a hide from a Chinese or Malaysian tannery, but without going to those tanneries in person and observing their facility, how would one know? I will tell you that you will pay on average twice as much for a hide coming out of Europe then one coming out of a Pacific Rim country.

As to interior components, there is a lot of foam, metal and wood used. If your goal is to minimize chemicals in the product, you can start by shopping ONLY for a maker with a solid hardwood frame. Any maker using 'engineered hardwoods' is using a plywood construction, and all plywood has formaldehyde glues to bond the product together and they will outgas over time. Foam is a petro-chemical product, and as such oil-based. There are hyper-allogenic foams used by makers such as Hancock and Moore but they are still not 100% natural products.

I suppose you could build a product from organic materials but the cost would be huge (most latex on the market is 55% natural, 45% synthetic which lasts longer and cost less than a 95% pure latex. 5% synthetic blend), and even the least corrected leathers will still have to undergo a tanning process, and those lightly tanned leathers would absorb stains and oils like nobody's business.

I disagree with your statement that companies only care about price and have no regard for the health of their customers. The truth is that most customers do not want to pay for product where attention is paid to quality components. I can show a customer aa $ 5,000 sofa in my store that has all the best materials in it and the number one comment I will hear is 'Do you have anything cheaper, like about half the price?". Sure! Lets go over to the plywood-frame piece with the Chinese leather.....If you want high quality materials and covers, you have to be willing to pay for them.

[moon1234]

Thanks Duane,

You answered my questions well and it was sort of what I thought. I know I was told that Legacy was supposed to use only solid hardwoods. No plywoods or manufactured woods.

If we use so many chemicals today to tan hides, how in the world did the Native Americans tan deer and buffalo hides? I image they needed to do someting to make the skins soft enough to wear as clothing?

[simplyjeff]

I have a friend who is a custom upholsterer with 35 years of experience. About 9 months ago, he was contacted by a client who wanted him to build a 100% natural sofa for resale. He spent months trying to find all natural materials and finally after 6 months he completed the sofa for which he charged $10,000. (It was not a leather sofa.) The client accepted the sofa and paid the invoice that was presented. The client planned to sell the sofa for $20,000.

My friend told me that if he had built an identical sofa, but using normal materials the cost would have been only $3000.

Jeff Frank
Simplicity Sofas

[drcollie]

Probably more than you want to know on the tanning process at this link:

http://www.bukisa.com/articles/25738...sses-explained

Those old Indian hides and leathers from past centuries were smelly and pretty crude!

[simplyjeff]

In all the comments I have seen in this forum on the merits of solid hardwood frames vs. plywood frames, I can't remember any discussion of the thickness of the solid wood frames. Top quality frames are made from 5/4" lumber. However many companies who claim to have solid hardwood frames are actually using 4/4 or even 3/4 lumber. It is not the same quality. I don't know what type of lumber H&M is using in their frames but I would be amazed if it is not 5/4. I have seen a few 6/4 frames but they are very expensive and very heavy and you probably don't need the additional strength unless you are expecting a family of elephants to be sitting on your sofa.

Jeff Frank
Simplicity Sofas