Leather furniture, when properly built, is one of the best values in the industry in my opinion, yet its one of the least understood products in the store. In this post, I'll cover some of the basics to help ease the confusion of selecting a hide and some of the properties to look for in leather. Lets dive into some basics, and then some questions are always good to answer.


  • Leather outlasts fabric approximately four to one. This makes it ideal for high-wear usage and especially in motion furniture such as recliners. My oldest upholstery piece in my house is a 22-year-old Hancock and Moore Recliner that still has plenty of life left to it.
  • Leather is not maintenance-free. It needs to be cleaned periodically to remove the oils and dirt from use. I clean the leather in my home 2x a year, typically doing it Spring and Fall when the clocks change. If the hide is not cleaned, the the oils/dirt attack the tannins in the leather and cause the product to breakdown, typically we've all seen leather with severe cracks in it, and then it begins to separate. At that point, the hide is all done.
  • Leather is not vinyl. All leather varies because all cow skin varies (just as human skin varies). Only vinyl is consistent in feel and color, leather never will be. The more expensive the hide, typically the more variance one will find. DO NOT RELY ON THE SWATCHES TO BE ACCURATE IN COLOR.
  • Leather is typically divided into two main camps. Finished and Aniline. Finished leather is highly processed, and the during that tanning process the leather is stripped of its grain and markings that make it unique. The grain is then imprinted back into the leather, and a pigmented painting process adds in the color. Think of Finished leather as painted. Aniline leathes are much finer hides and require much less processing. For that reason, they can be vat dyed rather than painted. The end result is a more luxurious leather, but disparities in dye lots will be much greater.
  • In general, the more expensive the leather, the more fragile it is. Finished leathers are "wipe n' go", Aniline leathers sometimes will not repel certain kinds of stains (oily ones can be problematic)
  • Sunlight fades everything, however aniline-dyed leather will fade much quicker than finished leather in direct sunlight.
  • Thickness of leather has almost no effect on longevity. Thicker hides do not tailor as crispy as thinner hides.
  • "Pull-Up" leather is a term used to describe leather that "lightens" when stretched over a corner or tightened. Make sure you like that look before you buy in this category. To test to see if a hide is a "pull-up" push your fingers into the back of the sample tightly and observe any lightening.
  • Scratches in leather with fingernails, etc. are usually only in the waxy topcoat. Take the palm of you hand and rub it quickly over the scratch to build heat into the hide and the scratch will dissipate!
  • Dogs don't generally bother leather, but some cats with claws can destroy it in short order.
  • Buy leather with your sense of touch as much as color. Ball the hide up in your hand and close your eyes. You want a supple, rich feel in the hide - the best hides have a velvety feel to them.
  • That flap of leather under the seat cushion is there to cut off at a later date to send to the factory to get another matching piece later on, or to send off for a dye kit if your piece becomes faded, etc.
  • All leathers, even ones marked 'unprotected' have a teflon topcoat on them.
  • Do not buy "leather treatment protection programs" from the selling store. You do not need it and they applied product might damage your hide's topceat.
  • You can clean your leather with something as simple as a bar of plain Ivory soap rubbed on a white washcloth. Rinse lighty. Club soda on a washcloth also works.
  • Novice buyers are fearful of buying better hides because of staining, etc. Experienced buyers move right into aniline dyes and don't even shop finished leather other than perhaps in an office chair, etc.
  • Exotic hides like Lambskin can require more stitching in making a cover as the hides themselves are much smaller than cowhides.
  • In general, don't upgrade cushions in leather. Stock cushions are engineered to perform the best over time. Down cushions tend to increase the likelihood of hundreds of hairline stress cracks in your leather, because down moves more than standard cushions, allowing the leather to flex more over time.
  • BiCast is NOT leather. Its a product made from ground-up scrap leather which is formed into a slurry and then bonded to a polypropylene sheet, the a grain pattern is stamped into it and its painted. It has lost the natural strength bond of leather and usually deteriorates quickly. Only in the USA can that product be labeled 'leather'. Stay away from all bicast products.

-Duane