Junk with a high price tag

[todd_kachadoorian]

Not yet back ready to make a H&M purchase from Duane yet. Waiting for the bonus to come and then do a bill assessment. The other day, I took my kids to Lowes and there happened to be a "Bernie and Phylls" next door. So I walk in and glance at the sofa's. Everything is bonded leather and is like sitting on a plastic bag. What is up with that? Now that I know better, and I know what quality sits like, I know what to avoid. Duane, we will be talking soon. In the meantime, can you give us all a "schooling" on just what bonded leather is? The sales guy said it would last at least 10 years. There is no way that could be. Todd.

[drcollie]

Not yet back ready to make a H&M purchase from Duane yet. Waiting for the bonus to come and then do a bill assessment. The other day, I took my kids to Lowes and there happened to be a "Bernie and Phylls" next door. So I walk in and glance at the sofa's. Everything is bonded leather and is like sitting on a plastic bag. What is up with that? Now that I know better, and I know what quality sits like, I know what to avoid. Duane, we will be talking soon. In the meantime, can you give us all a "schooling" on just what bonded leather is? The sales guy said it would last at least 10 years. There is no way that could be. Todd.

Hey Todd,

Bonded Leather is some pretty nasty stuff, its basically the same as BiCast Leather, and neither is really leather at all. Think of it as a NY Strip Steak that became a piece of Beef Jerky and you get the idea.

Walk through a place like Hancock & Moore's Marking/Cutting room and you'll see buckets and drums of leather scraps and waste from the hides used to make their pieces. Every color under the sun, and every hide type. These scraps are all accumulated then sold by the pound, and shipped in a container to China. Once there, they are chemically melted into a slurry (this breaks the collagen bonds of the leather hide and at this point the natural strength of leather is eliminated), then this slurry is bonded to a latex or polypropylene sheet, the grain pattern is then embossed into the product, and its painted with a spray gun.

In every country EXCEPT the USA, it is illegal to call these products 'leather' in any way, however here you see them sold as Bonded Leather, or Bicast Leather. They have none of the inherent strength of real leather and really should be considered more of a man-made, vinyl-like product.

Glad to see you are using the forums and gaining knowledge! The Furniture Industry is totally lax in educating the end-user customer, and instead focuses mostly on price points. The reason I contribute (and started this) forum is to try to pass on some of my accumulated knowledge in the past 23 years of doing this business, because I believe that an educated customer WILL make the right buying choices once they learn what makes a good piece from a bad one. Even if the truly good pieces are outside the budget range to purchase, at least folks can be armed with the knowledge so as to not overpay for a mid-price or even Costco-quality piece. I can pretty much guarantee you that if you walk into any store that sells bi-cast or bonded leather, and ask them exactly how its made the sales staff can't tell you how its done but instead will tell you its 'on sale' until such and such a date, etc.

[drcollie]

Not yet back ready to make a H&M purchase from Duane yet. Waiting for the bonus to come and then do a bill assessment. The other day, I took my kids to Lowes and there happened to be a "Bernie and Phylls" next door. So I walk in and glance at the sofa's. Everything is bonded leather and is like sitting on a plastic bag. What is up with that? Now that I know better, and I know what quality sits like, I know what to avoid. Duane, we will be talking soon. In the meantime, can you give us all a "schooling" on just what bonded leather is? The sales guy said it would last at least 10 years. There is no way that could be. Todd.

Hey Todd,

Bonded Leather is some pretty nasty stuff, its basically the same as BiCast Leather, and neither is really leather at all. Think of it as a NY Strip Steak that became a piece of Beef Jerky and you get the idea.

Walk through a place like Hancock & Moore's Marking/Cutting room and you'll see buckets and drums of leather scraps and waste from the hides used to make their pieces. Every color under the sun, and every hide type. These scraps are all accumulated then sold by the pound, and shipped in a container to China. Once there, they are chemically melted into a slurry (this breaks the collagen bonds of the leather hide and at this point the natural strength of leather is eliminated), then this slurry is bonded to a latex or polypropylene sheet, the grain pattern is then embossed into the product, and its painted with a spray gun.

In every country EXCEPT the USA, it is illegal to call these products 'leather' in any way, however here you see them sold as Bonded Leather, or Bicast Leather. They have none of the inherent strength of real leather and really should be considered more of a man-made, vinyl-like product. I personally think it a waste of money to buy his category and I'd rather have a fabric piece or microfiber instead.

Glad to see you are using the forums and gaining knowledge! The Furniture Industry is totally lax in educating the end-user customer, and instead focuses mostly on price points. The reason I contribute (and started this) forum is to try to pass on some of my accumulated knowledge in the past 23 years of doing this business, because I believe that an educated customer WILL make the right buying choices once they learn what makes a good piece from a bad one. Even if the truly good pieces are outside the budget range to purchase, at least folks can be armed with the knowledge so as to not overpay for a mid-price or even Costco-quality piece. I can pretty much guarantee you that if you walk into any store that sells bi-cast or bonded leather, and ask them exactly how its made the sales staff can't tell you how its done but instead will tell you its 'on sale' until such and such a date, etc.