Can I flip and rotate my leather seat cushions?

This is a question frequently asked and customer are often surprised at the answer. No, you cannot flip then as you can with fabric cushions and the reason why may surprise you. Leather is non-porous, unlike fabric. There has to be an area for the air to escape when the cushion is sat upon, so all the makers install vent panels in the bottom of the seats and backs (black area in the photo). This lets the air escape an without a vent panel it would be like sitting on a beach ball. For that reason there is no leather on the bottom 2/3's of the cushions and therefore they are not flippable. This is the bottom of a seat cushion on a Hancock and Moore Dana sofa, for example.

Attachment 12810

Are they swappable left/right? Sometimes, but that depends on the maker. Most the better brands will tailor their seat cushions to the corner they are designed to go in, resulting in a more tailored, tighter fit Without this corner tailoring (seen in the yellow rectangle) there would be a gap in that corner. This is also a nice detail to look for when deciding to buy one maker vs another. It takes more crafting to fit the corners vs making cushions in a simple rectangle. If the corner is tailored, you cannot move it Left/Right in a swap.

Attachment 12811

I suspect that the vent issue is a real one, but that a flippable cushion is also possible but there is little incentive for manufacturers to try to do it for simple cost reasons. If the back of the cushion and part of the sides had material that allowed good ventilation, like a mesh type material it would seem that the bottoms could made of leather so that the cushions could be flipped. Given the cost of the leather I suspect there is little incentive to find a way. Not to mention that it might cut down a bit on replacement sales. What would the up side be to the manufacturer?

What I would like almost as much as flippable cushions is a touch up marker with a matching color pigment to touch up small scratches like they gave me for my kitchen cabinets. Now THAT would be handy with pets.

Sure, we can custom-made leather cushions that are flippable. I've done it at least eight times. The entire cushion casing becomes leather and then on the sides of each one (hidden) are these vent grommets. Here's a guy who did a video on it, but it's pretty obvious ne didn't put in enough, that cushion needs two to three times as many. What will happen is those vent grommets will blow out due to pressure, he really needed more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zURuQHZAHB8

Been a long time since I've done it, the cost to do the custom is about equal to the cost of a new casing so I don't see much benefit in doing it personally.

You can easily get a marker to match your kitchen cabinets - have a color sample to send into Mohawk? They can find a color that will work. They make a lot of colors as standard and will also custom color if needed.

https://www.mohawkproducts.com/Mowha...ors-p/m294.htm

Lol, no you misunderstood. I HAVE a marker to match my kitchen cabinets, I WANT one for my H&M Sofa to match the leather so I can touch up small scratches. In Cavalier Mocha, please :)

If you need color for your Cavalier Mocha, contact your selling dealer and request a small bottle of touch-up, its free of charge. (Finished and Semi-Aniline hides only)

Wow, that is awesome, thanks! I didn't know it existed. The scratches are minor but over time I know they could add up. Gotta keep those kitty claws trimmed. They don't use it as a scratching post but sometimes when they jump up on it they leave a scratch.

My dealer said H&M and sending me out something for the scratches. Thank you, I would not even have known that existed. I can't wait to see how well it does.

I always wondered why leather cushions were not finished on the bottom, I just assumed it was due to cost savings. It never occurred to me it is for air to escape!