How to tell genuine and fake leathers apart

What is a leather product or carpet?

Leather products have been considered luxurious and pricy for so long, and since they are really precious and invaluable, numerous people have attempted to make their fictitious counterparts. Fake leathers are made of either non-genuine or partly real leathers. If you opt to purchase a high quality costly leather product, you need to tell genuine and synthetic leathers apart on your own.   

Types of genuine leathers:

There are different kinds of real leathers listed below:

* Full grain leather

* Top grain leather

* Split leather

* Bonded leather

 

Full grain or genuine leather

Buy this type of leather just for most widely used products. Full grain leather includes the Grain layer which is the hardest and the strongest layer of the hide. It is the most popular kind of leather due to its specific feature. Full grain leathers can be colored or transformed. Since the outer layer of the leather is hard and stiff, it is really difficult to work with them, hence they are extremely expensive.

 

Top grain leather

If you want to purchase a leather with more reasonable price, buy top grain leather. Top grain leather is formed, when the outer layer of the leather is sanded away. This process is done to remove the imperfections of its surface and to give it a smooth and even look once compared with full grain leather. It is much easier to work with this type of leather and hence it is cheaper than full grain leather.

 

Split leather

The third layer of the leather under the grain is called split leather. This leather does not have the strength and the durability of full- and top grain leathers, but it is still real leather and has its own unique features. It is really easy to work with this type of leather and it can be transformed to any shapes. Since working with these leathers is really effortless, they have lower prices than other types of leathers.

 

 

Bonded leathers

These leathers are made of little scraps and bits of leathers stuck together. The quality of bonded leathers is lower than other types of leathers. This leather is very cheap and is mostly used for book binding and small objects which get worn out less.

 

Important factors to know about genuine leather product purchase

1- Always err on the side of caution at the time of leather product purchase including leather and skin rugs. Leather and skin carpets are generally made and sewed by hand, so if a salesman does not claim so, the product is not made of genuine leather. Typically real leathers have special labels.

2- Observe the leather`s surface and its pebbles and pores closely. Genuine leathers have some imperfections on their surface like gravel which is a good thing because it represents the leathers genuineness. Given that real leathers are made of animals` skins, each part of them is quite unique and extraordinary comparing to the other parts. Very regular, even and similar grains indicate that the leather is faux and machine-made.    
 

 

 

3- Press the leather to see what happens. When you stretch real leather, you will notice some wrinkles which disappear when you release it. Fake leathers stay unaffected and will preserve their shape and stiffness because they are none-elastic.

 

4- Smell the leather. Since genuine leathers are made of animals` skins, they smell musty instead of plastic-like or chemically.

 

 

 5- Use the fire test to spot real leather. Hold a flame up lighter or match under a piece of leather. If it is real, it chars a little and gives off a smell like burned hair, otherwise it smells like plastic if it is synthetic.

 

6- Examine the stitches closely. Real leathers have uneven holes on them. On the contrary, fake leathers have even stitch holes because they are sewed by machines.

 

 

7- Just like human`s skin, real leathers change color when they are folded or wrinkled and regain their initial state when they are released. Fake leathers` color on the other hand, does not go under any changes.

 

8- Pour some water on the leather. If it is genuine, it absorbs the water, otherwise, the water  stays on it slips on its surface

 

 

Toos Mashhad leather products are all made of genuine leather and are distributed to the market with the highest quality and extreme beauty.