What is eco-leather for furniture: advantages and disadvantages

Leather furniture in the house is always beautiful. It emphasizes the owner's status, looks very respectable and makes the room more comfortable. But furniture made of genuine leather is an expensive pleasure that not everyone can afford. Therefore, the furniture market offers two types of upholstery "under the skin": artificial leather and eco-leather (eco-leather).

Furniture finishing with artificial leather — Leather furniture at home or in the office has always been and is a certain indicator of status, since it is always expensive, elegant and beautiful.

Eco-leather chair — Today, manufacturers offer a wide variety of eco-leather, the price of which depends on the production technology.

Previously, leatherette was used in the manufacture of almost all types of products, since it is cheap and relatively durable. However, it has one significant drawback: leatherette is a fabric base coated with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and other chemical additives. In addition, it is not breathable and a sofa made of such artificial leather is unsafe for human health. Everything changed when leatherette was replaced by leather made of polyurethane with a cotton base, eco-leather.

Eco-leather for furniture — However, it is precisely because of the high cost that very few people can afford furniture with genuine leather upholstery.

Eco-leather beds — Moreover, in terms of some of their characteristics, individual samples of this material even surpass genuine leather.

Content

What is eco-leather made of?
Advantages and disadvantages of eco-leather
How to choose eco-leather furniture correctly
VIDEO: What is eco-leather?
50 photo ideas: eco-leather for furniture

What is eco-leather made of?

This is a new material, in the production of which 100% cotton is used, covered with a layer of polyurethane (PU) without any harmful impurities. Furniture made of eco-leather, unlike furniture made of artificial leather, does not have an unpleasant odor, has excellent air permeability (due to the large number of pores contained in the structure of the material itself), hygroscopicity and is absolutely hypoallergenic, so it is safe even for children. A sofa made of eco-leather does not heat up much under direct sunlight and does not freeze in the cold.

Eco-leather beige color — Until recently, the only analogue for natural material was artificial leather, the external characteristics and performance properties of which left much to be desired.

Gerda bed eco-leather — The most unpretentious material for upholstered furniture is eco-leather.

The material is durable, smooth and pleasant to the touch, so it is difficult to distinguish it from genuine leather. It does not have the disadvantages that are inherent in genuine leather:

uneven thickness,
uneven color and texture,
minor flaws.

Beige eco-leather sofa — Therefore, it is worth buying it if you want to install upholstered furniture in your country house, kitchen, or in rooms where contamination may occur.

There are not many types of eco-leather on the market. The main ones are Oregon, Alba, Companion and Dollaro.

Oregon: 70% cotton and highly abrasion resistant. This is the most popular material among all types of eco-leather, has the best price-quality ratio and accurately conveys the pattern of natural leather with fine texture.

There are also varieties of Oregon: Oregon Antique (has a glossy surface) and Oregon Royal (the surface is smooth and shiny).

Alba: also a fairly popular material that is able to pass air and steam very well. It is resistant to light, temperature changes, minor damage and wear.
Companion: more wear-resistant and durable than Oregon, also differs in its structure - PU film is applied to polyurethane foam with a fleecy fabric backing.
Dollaro: very high-quality eco-leather for furniture upholstery. Contains all the best qualities of eco-leather. Imitation of classic matte leather in different colors (a wide range of colors is presented: from emerald to scarlet).

Dark colored eco-leather — Eco-leather combines the advantages of natural material - the ability to breathe, strength and durability, and the main advantage of artificial materials of the past generation - an affordable price.

Eco-leather pouf mat — Thanks to unique technologies and innovative developments at the heart of production, these products have no analogues on the market.

eco-leather pouf — Thus, the base may include natural materials – cotton, genuine leather, or artificial polyester.

Advantages and disadvantages of eco-leather

Ecological leather upholstery, as an option to replace expensive natural and cheap leatherette, has both its pros and cons.

The advantages include:

High resistance of the material to wear, abrasion, scratches and bends. Minor damage can be easily healed due to the special arrangement of the cells of the polyurethane mesh.
Ecologically clean, absolutely hypoallergenic and safe for humans and pets.
It is practically indistinguishable both to the touch and visually from genuine leather, but the price of eco-leather is significantly lower.
Good air permeability and hygroscopicity due to the high pore density of the material and the breathable properties of cotton.
Non-toxic and completely free of unpleasant odor, which is typical for artificial leather.
Simplicity and ease of maintenance: to remove dirt from the surface of an eco-leather sofa, first wipe the stain with a wet cloth and then quickly wipe dry so that the dirt does not soak in.

Eco-leather collection — The surface material of eco-leather is polyurethane.

Large bed made of eco-leather — It feels pleasant to the touch and really resembles genuine leather.

Corner sofas made of eco-leather — The surface material of eco-leather is polyurethane.

Such a number of advantages of eco-leather furniture over furniture made of artificial material is certainly impressive. But this type of upholstery also has its disadvantages.

This is still not genuine leather, although it is very close to it. So those who want to emphasize the authenticity of the product in all respects should better opt for furniture made of genuine leather.
If you have a cat at home, you should refrain from buying furniture made of eco-leather, since cat claws can penetrate the structure of the material so that the fabric base becomes visible, which will not heal later.
It gets dirty quite quickly and it is difficult to remove traces of markers, ink and gouache from its surface.
Low-quality eco-leather is cold and takes a long time to warm up. In the cold season, such low-quality upholstery will have to be covered with a blanket so as not to freeze while sitting on the sofa.

Eco-leather and its advantages — Thus, the base may include natural materials – cotton, genuine leather, or artificial polyester.

Durability of eco-leather bed — Until recently, the only analogue for natural material was artificial leather, the external characteristics and performance properties of which left much to be desired.

How to choose eco-leather furniture correctly

If all the pros and cons of this material have already been weighed and the go-ahead has been given to purchase a sofa made of eco-leather, then the only problem left is choosing it, because stores offer a huge number of upholstered furniture of different textures and colors.

Eco-leather and leatherette upholstery for sofa — Additionally, in order to provide external decorative effects or improve the properties of the material, an external coating is used, which is applied to the polyurethane surface of the eco-leather.

Maddalena chair — Not expensive compared to genuine leather.

First of all, you need to pay attention to the manufacturer and the reviews of other buyers about it. After all, in the store you can find many models at a similar or more favorable price, which in fact will be ordinary fakes made of artificial leather, which will peel off after a year of continuous use. Since such interior items are not bought every year, you should opt for well-known stores, about which many reviews have been written on the Internet.

Black eco-leather bed — The sofa looks expensive and prestigious.

Then you can choose a specific model depending on your wishes regarding the texture, color and size of the sofa and check the quality of the assembly of the structure, the connection of the seams and the integrity of the fabric.

Advantages of eco-leather furniture — Modern eco-leather is elastic, colourfast and does not crack.

white eco-leather sofa — It would be nice to have a sofa like this in a guest room.

Eco-leather sofas are an excellent, inexpensive alternative to genuine leather sofas, which will last for many years and remain in the same condition as on the day of purchase.