With the rise in demand for leather, the synthetic leather industry is growing year by year. However, while it is good that people can now get their hands on affordable leather, it sometimes becomes tricky when looking for real leather.
The main difference between real leather and fake leather is that real leather is made up of animal hides like cows, buffalo, and goats. At the same time, synthetic leather is made up of plastic base Polyvinyl Chloride. These are chemically treated substances and don’t contain any animal substance.
As we know that leather products are luxurious items, and no one wants to go home with fake leather at the price of real leather. This is why we are here today.
We have come up with a detailed guide that will help you differentiate real leather from fake leather in no time.
Types Of Leather
Before moving on to the steps to finding real leather, it is important that you know the different types of leather available in the market.
- Real Leather: Real leather is full-grain or top-grain leather. These are the highest quality of leather you will find in the market and are too expensive. These leather are thick and have a little rough surface with imperfection showing on the surface. This usually comes from the injury an animal experiences in the fast.
- Genuine Leather: When leather is tagged or called genuine leather, they are the lowest grade of leather available in the market. Yes, they are real leather, but not the ones that you would want your belt, jacket, and beach to be made of.
- Faux Leather: Faux leather is synthetic leather that is made from PV and is the result of the chemical processing of plastic. Faux leather is not made from animal hides and hence is cheap.
Learn more about leather products by clicking the link and know more about the different types of leather.
How To Tell If The Leather Is Real?
As we know, real leather costs a lot more than faux leather. You wouldn’t want to buy fake leather at the price of real leather. Follow the steps to find real leather.
Step 1: Check For The Visible Characteristics
To identify the real leather, look at the surface carefully. Real leather is not perfect, and even the most premium leather will have a rough surface. You might find scratches, wrinkles, lines, and creases. All these things signal that the leather is real.
Whereas faux leather has a smooth surface and looks almost in perfect condition. After holding the faux leather, you will realize how unnatural it is and feel like holding a thick plastic sheet.
Step 2: Examine The Pores
If you know what pores are about. You can examine the pores of a leather product to see whether or not they are real. Like before, if the pores seem perfect, it is too good to be true.
Real leather has imperfect pores that come with animals getting injured in their lifetime. The pores are clearly visible in full-grain leather.
Step 3: Smell The Leather
Real leather has a distinctive animal skin smell that cannot be added artificially. Therefore, while buying leather, you can smell the leather to find that distinctive scent. You might be holding fake leather if you cannot find animal skin scent.
In the case of fake leather, you will not smell anything. This is because all the smell of faux leather is chemically treated.
Step 4: Water Test
Real leather is a highly porous material. So, when you pour water on the surface of real leather, it will absorb it. However, if the leather is waxed treated, you will find water is just slipping down.
However, as the fake leather is made with plastic, the water will instantly slip from the surface.
The water test alone will not help you find real leather. So, couple these tips with the other tips we have mentioned above.
Conclusion
Leather products fall under the category of luxurious products. If you are buying leather, they are worth every single penny. But, the various terms used to describe different leather can confuse you. Hence, being an informed customer will help you buy genuine leather products.
If you’re buying leather products, consider following the above steps, it will help you from getting cheated in the name of real leather.