What is bonded leather?

[Gabardine]

I see the second-hand market flooded with bonded leather furniture, most if it in terrible shape (peeling, cracking) and I assume most pieces are headed for landfill. After some research, I read that bonded leather is in fact scrap leather pieces, melted down and mixed with plastic-like products (polyurethane or vinyl) to give the illusion of leather on the front and back. It's sold by the roll and a dream for low-end sofa makers who want to sell $999 disposable sofas, but clearly misleading consumers and leaving the bill with old Mother Nature. When I hired a contractor who said he was "bonded", it meant he was secured and, in a way, strengthened; I'm guessing that's why it's the preferred term for this SPAM of leather.

What else should people know about bonded leather?

• Does it go by other names?
• Is it ever appropriate for furniture?
• Can it last longer if treated properly?
• How can people detect bonded leather?
• Can it have the appearance of aniline leather? How bad for the environment is it?

Other questions?

[drcollie]

Bonded leather...isn't real leather in the traditional sense. In fact, only in the USA can it be called 'leather'. Other countries forbid it having that tag. It's typically done a couple different ways, made from scraps and/or the split of the leather. Every hide is split and the top of the hide becomes TOP GRAIN leather, what you want. The lower part is the 'splits' and can be made into a suede or bonded leather. It lacks tensile strength, so its chemically bonded to a polypropylene sheet and then painted - with the grain pattern embossed into the hide. And its junk. It lacks the strength of real leather in the fibers, and yes, a trained eye can detect it pretty easily (best from the underside). There is no treatment that will prolong the life span of that product and it can never look like a pure aniline, because its painted. No idea on environmental impact, but probably no worse than top grain in the landfill.

I'd rather buy a piece in high-grade vinyl than bonded leather, personally. Its only used on the cheapest of pieces to get the price point down. Like I say so many times - making furniture is not rocket science. To make it right costs money in both raw materials and labor. For a manufacturer to get the price down, he has to cut both. When a prime Hancock and Moore sofa correctly made is $ 3,000 or more and you see a sofa at Costco for $ 699, its not because Costco got a smoking red hot deal or that maker developed a new building technique. Its because the sofa is made of inferior materials that won't hold up. Now, you might can get a quality sofa for $ 2,200 vs $ 3,000, but you can't cover the price spread more than say 25% and still have it made correctly as general rule. Proper raw materials means it lasts.

[Gabardine]

I'm disappointed to see these industry "education" videos saying that it's a durable material.

Designer Furniture Warehouse: http://youtu.be/eDe2L01GpW8
Berkline Furniture: http://youtu.be/20tZP3Nsmec
Palliser (training video!): http://youtu.be/YkNLy_8wkrc

From what I've seen cracking and peeling begins on pieces that are only a few years old, so this is dishonest at best. It's a shame that the entire sofa goes into the landfill when often only because the bonded leather has crapped out prematurely.

[drcollie]

Well, they ARE selling the product, aren't they?

[Gabardine]

Clearly people selling their sofas second-hand think it's leather. They list it as being leather, and most actually believe that it's leather. But they're selling because they can see it's quickly wearing out and just think it's low-grade leather (I bet this hurts leather in general).

Maybe it's time to speak to our legislators about a proper name like "leather-backed polypropylene". I imagine there would be some pushback because of the power of the plastics industry.

Reminds me of a quote from Veep (a manic comedy set in DC about a VP played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus)

"You piss off plastics, you piss of oil. You don't want to f*$# with those guys because they f*$# in a very unpleasant fashion."

side note: Veep takes place almost entirely in lavish hotels and offices and is jam packed with great looking American furniture. Great sponsorship opportunity!

[IRISFurniture.com]

This is a major issue in the industry. Similarly, there are an INCREDIBLE amount of retailers out there selling "Leather Match" products without clearly disclosing this to consumers. "Leather Match" typically means that the sides and back of the piece are vinyl while the seating areas and places a persons body would touch are genuine leather. They market these products as being "genuine leather", which is technically true since they DO contain SOME genuine leather. A shameful loophole that hurts the reputation of the industry. Most consumers won't notice that this is the case until down the road when the two materials (which frequently age differently) separate from each other long after the warranty has expired.