Choosing new H&M pieces for a cat friendly family room

[Mommyjo]

I have already learned so much from this genius and informative forum –Thank you Duane! We are looking to purchase a H&M sofa, recliner and ottoman for our family room. Probably a Rugby Club sofa & otto and a Martial Swivel Recliner. We have two cats that run, jump and chase each other all over our current 12-year-old, Thomasville, leather furniture. (Need new due to function, not wear or damage.) After reading through all the threads on this forum about protected vs unprotected I am sold on purchasing unprotected leather again. Our cats do scratch our leather now, but we can "rub it out" for the most part and severe scratches rub out or darken and just become more natural distress. We do have a lot of eastern sun exposure and had our windows tinted years ago after noticing fading in the current leather and carpet. Currently, we are looking for a leather that when scratched does NOT reveal a permanent white or light colored leather below and one that will not appear plastic or fake. Unprotected wins it appears. We would also like scars and imperfections in a deep burgundy or burnt burgundy color. From all that I am reading, I believe we also want "pull up" full/pure aniline, vat dyed, leather as well. That is what we must currently own since it is dyed all the way through and our scratches rub out for the most part, right? So my question and confusion remains as follows:

1- Full/pure Anilines are vat dyed? OR are ONLY full/pure aniline, PULL-UP, leathers, vat dyed?
2- Would an unprotected but non "pull-up" leather still meet our criteria? One such as Imperial Cordovan Burnished? Is Imperial full aniline and vat dyed? It is not a pull-up though, correct? Would scratches rub out? What do you think of Continental? Does that line have a deep dark burgundy and meet our criteria?
3- As for the pull-ups, we also don't want to end up with lightened color like a raspberry or rose colored sofa after the leather is stretched. We are very sad that Upton,Plaza and Lucus were discontinued before we could evaluate them.

In addition to our questions about Imperial and Continental, we would love to get your opinion on Weston Burgundy, Atticus Cordovan and Sable, Kipling Cognac, Tiburon Garnet or Cognac, Yardley Merlot or Cognac, Pecos Chestnut, and would love to hear of any others. It is very hard to tell online or even by looking at the swatches whether or not the colors are only browns or browns mixed with burgundy. The most important thing get started is knowing which leathers, in what order, you feel meet our criteria. Right now our preference is as you see above, with Weston at first place. We have been unable to see/feel Imperial or Continental and question #2 will help decide if we need to seek them out.
Thank you again! After we get this narrowed down we will ask about pricing et al.
This is the first time I have every posted to a forum. I hope I did it correctly!

[drcollie]

Sorry, missed this one earlier (sometimes that happens!)

You are correct in your assessment of leathers. "Protected" or Finished leathers are painted, and when they do scratch - its permanent - just like on your car. "Unprotected" leathers are dyed, so there is no topcoat to break through and they can generally be mended somewhat and will look better.

* Aniline hides are all vat-dyed. Pull-up is just a way to do a particular aniline to get it to show pressure marks for a 'bomber jacket look'. The processes are the same.

* Burnished leathers work great under hard usage. They are a stiffer leather, and will show wear marks with use, so perfect for an active house. You can massage a high-quality hand lotion like Intensive Care into a burnished leather and rub marks and scratches dissappear. The are noisy leathers however, and you will hear that leather 'squeak' when using them.

* Continental is as good as leathers get - its very expensive and will damage your checkbook. It has a waxy topcoat and would probably be wonderful for you. But the price might give you pause.

* Plaza was just flat out fantastic. Sorry that one went but it didn't sell much because it was a GR 5. Upton was too 'natural' for many, and pulled because of customer complaints with all the markings. I love it though, my store office chair I'm sitting in now is in Upton Cafe. Lucas was dropped because of supplier inconsistency.

* Weston is fantastic and out of Germany. It's similar to Tiburon but smoother, softer and more refined with less pullup effect. Recommended. Atticus is a favorite GR2 of mine, makes up well and looks more costly than it is. Kipling is a mainstay, I have it at home on my Sadler Recliner. Tiburon is thicker cut, and easily marked by design - comes out of Italy, cool leather but will show every little mark. Yardley is a a leather that varies a lot. When you get a good piece its wonderful - when you get one that's not so good it marginal. Atticus and Kipling are more consistent in a GR 2. Pecos is too glossy for my tastes, and its a scratch show leather. Skip it and move to Tiburon or Tuscany which are a grade up in price, but worth it.

[Mommyjo]

Wow, you are amazing Duane! And thank you for the response. I hope that the furniture companies pay you for knowing their merchandise and material better than they do!
I think we are leaning towards Weston after your reply, with Atticus as second choice. We never got to see or feel Continental but after reading your comments, maybe that is for the best. Ha!
OAN-
I had also replied to another post in "The Lobby" a few days ago about a recliner for a tall guy. Would love to know your thoughts.
It reads like this - "We are also looking for a recliner for my husband who is 6' 5" and 250 lbs, but we need a recliner that also swivels. Is the Martial Wall-hugger (the one that swivels and glides)by H & M a good one for a guy his size?" We are trying to find something that will look nice with the Rugby Club Sofa. We considered The Cody, but it is too high for our spot in comparison to the sofa.
Thanks again and you take care!

[drcollie]

Pay me? HA! I'm lucky if the reps take me to lunch once a year.

6' 5" on a swivel recliner. That's tough - Marital is going to be too small. There are (3) Recliners in the H&M line likely to fit your husband, but none are swivels. Probably the best to go with the Rugby would be this one:

http://www.hancockandmoore.com/produ...productid=2184

To the best of my knowledge, the makers of the mechanisms don't offer a swivel/glider/recliner combo mechanism is a size that would allow a build of a frame for a man that tall. It's not so much a frame limitation, but a hardware one. I don't think you'll find one anywhere and will have to go stationary.

[kazhuveri]

Duane,

In one of your messages in this thread, you said "Protected or Finished leathers are painted, and when they do scratch - its permanent - just like on your car."

The description on Columbia leather says that it is a "top grain aniline dyed leather that has a protective finish".

So, when Columbia is scratched, is it that the protective finish alone is removed, and it won't affect the color. Or, is there some color in the protective finish as well?

I have a Columbia Coffee piece that has lost color on the welts. That is the background of this question.

[drcollie]

It takes a pretty hard scratch to get though the topcoat on Columbia - you have to work at it and use a nail, or a knife, etc. I'd not worry about that.

Welts losing color is a result of either friction of chemicals. Have you use any non-approved cleaning agents on the leather? An easy way to restore some of the color:

1. Leather conditioner will 'bring back' some color to the welt.

2. H&M Touch up in a bottle in the right color will make it look like new (then apply conditioner over the top of it). Free of charge, just have you dealer order a bottle of the color for you.

[kazhuveri]

I have used only water to clean the leather. Friction might be the culprit.

Thanks for the suggestions.