Real Leather vs. Faux Leather: Which Is Right for Your DIY Projects?

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When it comes to choosing between real leather and faux leather for your DIY projects, the decision can be challenging. Both materials have their unique advantages and drawbacks, and understanding the differences can help you make an informed choice. In this guide, we’ll explore the key factors to consider, including durability, cost, appearance and environmental impact, to help you decide which material is best suited for your needs.

What Is Real Leather?

Real leather is a natural material made from animal hides, such as cattle, buffalo, sheep and more. It’s prized for its durability, unique texture and ability to develop a beautiful patina over time. Real leather is often used in high-end fashion, accessories and furniture due to its luxurious feel and long-lasting quality.

What Is Faux Leather?

Faux leather, also known as synthetic or vegan leather, is a man-made material designed to mimic the look and feel of real leather. It’s typically made from plastic-based substances like polyurethane (PU) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which are treated with dyes and textures to resemble animal hide. Faux leather is a popular choice for those seeking an animal-free alternative or a more budget-friendly option.

Types of Real Leather

• Full Grain Leather: The highest quality leather, made from the top layer of the hide. It retains natural imperfections, making each piece unique. Full grain leather is highly durable and develops a rich patina over time.
• Top Grain Leather: Slightly lower in quality than full grain, this leather is sanded and buffed to remove imperfections. It’s more uniform in appearance but still durable and long-lasting.
• Split Leather: Made from the lower layers of the hide, split leather is less durable and often coated with synthetic materials to mimic the look of grain leather. Suede is a type of split leather.
• Bonded Leather: The lowest grade of leather, made from shredded leather scraps mixed with synthetic binders. It’s less durable and often used in low-cost products.

Types of Faux Leather

• Polyurethane (PU) Faux Leather: Made by coating natural fabrics like cotton or wool with a polymer-based substance. PU leather is breathable, flexible, and often used for clothing and upholstery.
• Vinyl (PVC) Faux Leather: Created by adding dyes and plasticizers to vinyl. It’s more flexible than PU leather but less breathable, making it ideal for items like bags and furniture covers.

Key Factors to Consider

1. Look & Feel

• Real Leather: Offers a unique, natural texture with imperfections that add character. It softens and develops a patina over time, enhancing its beauty.
• Faux Leather: Has a more uniform appearance due to machine-applied grain patterns. While it closely mimics real leather, it lacks the natural variations and aging qualities.

2. Durability & Longevity

• Real Leather: Extremely durable, especially full grain leather. It resists punctures and tears and can last for decades with proper care.
• Faux Leather: Generally less durable than real leather, though high-quality options like Ultraleather® and Naugahyde® offer excellent wear resistance. Faux leather is also waterproof, making it ideal for outdoor use.

3. Cost

• Real Leather: More expensive due to its natural origin and labor-intensive production process. It’s often sold by the hide, which can increase costs.
• Faux Leather: More affordable and widely available. It’s sold by the yard, making it a cost-effective choice for large projects.

4. Sewability

• Real Leather: Requires special tools like leather sewing needles and a walking foot machine. It can be thick and dense, making it challenging for home sewing machines.
• Faux Leather: Easier to sew than real leather, though it still requires a walking foot machine to prevent sticking. Standard needles can be used for most projects.

5. Care & Cleaning

• Real Leather: Requires regular conditioning and protection from moisture and UV exposure. Spills should be cleaned immediately to prevent staining.
• Faux Leather: Low-maintenance and easy to clean with mild soap and water. It’s resistant to UV damage and doesn’t require conditioning.

6. Applications

• Real Leather: Ideal for high-end accessories, clothing and furniture. However, it’s less practical for high-traffic areas or households with pets and children.
• Faux Leather: Perfect for outdoor furniture, marine upholstery and commercial settings. It’s also a great choice for kid- and pet-friendly environments.

7. Ethical & Environmental Impact

• Real Leather: A byproduct of the meat and dairy industries, reducing waste. However, its production has a significant environmental impact, including high water usage and chemical treatments.
• Faux Leather: Animal-free but relies on plastic-based materials, which contribute to pollution and take hundreds of years to decompose. High-quality faux leathers like PU are more eco-friendly than PVC.

Top Faux Leather Brands

Nauga Soft: A supple vinyl upholstery fabric that offers great durability with the look and feel of fine leather. With superior abrasion resistance, it's ideal for interior marine, automotive and home upholstery.

Ultraleather®: With the look and feel of the finest European calfskin, this PU faux leather boasts a rich texture, extremely supple hand and incredible durability. Use for high-end interior upholstery.

EverSoft™: A durable, four-way stretch vinyl with a matte finish suitable for marine cushions, patio furniture and more. Available in two textures: Pebble and Smooth.

Nook™: A versatile and stylish option designed for indoor upholstery projects. It offers a realistic leather look with easy maintenance, making it perfect for furniture, cushions, and home décor.

Shop Faux Leather

Leather Offerings at Sailrite

At Sailrite®, we offer a wide selection of high-quality real leather options to meet your DIY project needs. Whether you’re crafting accessories, upholstering furniture or creating custom leather goods, our leather offerings include:

Chrome Tanned Leather: Known for its softness and flexibility, chrome tanned leather is treated with chromium salts, making it resistant to water and ideal for a variety of applications. It’s available in hides, sides and panels.

Vegetable Tanned Leather: A traditional and eco-friendly option, vegetable tanned leather is treated with natural tannins. It’s durable, ages beautifully and is perfect for projects that require a stiffer, more structured material. Available in hides, sides and panels in natural and pre-dyed varieties.

Our leather selection ensures you have access to premium materials that combine durability, beauty and versatility for all your crafting needs.

Shop Sailrite Leather Offerings

Conclusion: Which Should You Choose?

The choice between real and faux leather depends on your project requirements, budget and personal values. If you prioritize durability, luxury and a natural look, real leather is the way to go. However, if you’re looking for an affordable, low-maintenance and animal-free option, faux leather is an excellent alternative.

Are you interested in learning more about Artificial Leather Fabric For Sale? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!

Consider the following questions to guide your decision:

• What is your budget?
• How long do you want the material to last?
• Will the item be exposed to harsh conditions or heavy use?
• Do you prefer a natural or synthetic material?

By weighing these factors, you can confidently choose the right material for your DIY projects. Whether you opt for the timeless appeal of real leather or the versatility of faux leather, both options offer unique benefits to bring your creative vision to life.

Leather, or Artificial leather is a material fabric substitute for genuine leather which is used in fashion, furniture upholstery, car accessories and more. Known by many names, including substitute leather, synthetic leather, vegan leather, pleather and leatherette (among others), faux leather has had a journey from the champion of the substitute industry to the antagonist.

What is it made of, what made it so popular to start out with and how it has made its way into the enemy list of sustainable activists. Read on to know.

The Composition of Faux Leather

Faux leather is a product of the petroleum industry and water resistant. Which makes it a very popular alternative to genuine leather. Where genuine leather is made of animal hide, the two types of faux leather are chemical products that can say that no animals are harmed in their making (more on this later).

The two types are PU leather and PVC leather: Polyurethane and Polyvinyl Chloride. Essentially, the process of making faux leather can be divided into three main processes.

• Obtaining the base: The base fabric to make faux leather can differ. Fabric bases such as polyester or cotton are commonly used. The base is rough and porous, and hence requires treatment. Obtaining the base can be a third party sourcing process or an in-house manufacturing.
• Sourcing and Formulating the Plastic: The plastic in question is PVC or PU. Formulating either is a process that requires a separate manufacturing section and time period. PVC is made by combining constituent of salts and petroleum. After processing the byproducts of either and combining combining polyvinylchloride with stabilizers, the result is exposed to very high temperatures to produce polyvinyl chloride resin. The process of making PU is much more complicated (and hence shall not be dwelt on).
• Binding and Cutting; Finally, the base material is bound with the plasticizers agent to make fake leather. Which is then cut and prepared for usage by manufacturers of leather goods.

Disclaimer: This is an oversimplification of the entire process to raise consumer awareness and not a manufacturing guide in any capacity whatsoever.

Pros and Cons of Faux Leather Fabric

Synthetic leather looks almost exactly the same as real leather, especially when used in apparel. But if you were to go closer and touch it, even an absolute amateur with no knowledge of the leather industry can differentiate and know that it does not feel like real leather. It feels like plastic to the touch and can at times have an unpleasant texture. Using faux leather has pros and cons, very much like the following:

Pros of Faux Leather

• It is considerably cheaper than real leather and can be your choice of leather substitute in matters of fashion apparel choice. In this way, you may also say that it is an equalizer for bringing the look (but not feel) of leather to a larger population dynamic.
• Due to being manufactured almost completely from scratch, it is very versatile. It can come in matte or glossy finishes. Even though most of these are made in the colours of classic leather items, it can be manufactured into any colour. Can't have neon pink genuine leather goods now, can you?
• Very low maintenance, in terms of being water resistant and hence, easy to clean. This also allows it to be highly resistant to stains in comparison to genuine leather. It also does not fade very easily, and is more UV resistant.
• From the POV of manufacturers, synthetic leather is much easier to work with and can be stitched seamlessly.

Cons of Faux Leather

• To start with, real bad for the environment. It cannot be upcycled to the extent of genuine leather and ends up in the landfill sooner. The chemicals used in fake leather production can be harmful, and make it non-biodegradable. If calculated in terms of life span, genuine leather can even be considered relatively environment friendly.
• Faux leather is less durable than real leather. The surface of faux leather is prone to peeling and then subsequently holding moisture in as less as a year of usage. Real leather on the other hand, is highly durable and can last a long time. The durability is considered to be a glaring fault, and
• Even though it is as cold insulating as genuine leather, which makes it a popular winter apparel, it is not as breathable. Real leather is porous, and allows adequate ventilation unlike the plastic coating on synthetic leather products.
• The synthetic material is not hypo-allergenic (less likely to cause an allergic reaction) as compared to real leather. Those with sensitive skins or a history of allergic reactions to synthetic fabric need to be prepared.

Faux Leather vs Bonded Leather

Bonded leather is the middle child of the leather fabric family. It is neither completely genuine leather or a fully faux leather. Bonded leather is made from using the scraps from the original leather manufacturing industry and binding it with PU or PVC. Usually, bonded leather can be composed of as much as 20-30% of real leather.

How does it compare to Faux leather? Quite poorly actually. In terms of price, rather counter-intuitively, this type of leather is cheaper than faux leather and also poorer in quality. It is made up of the waste scraps from the leather manufacturing process and hence poor in quality. You may say it takes the worst of both sides, it is not stain or water resistant while at the same time being less durable than real leather.

The Rise and Fall (x 2) of Imitation Leather

Imitation leather or faux leather, whatever you may call it, had its hay-days and then had some real bad days too. Mercedes Benz renamed the faux leather they use for their car seat upholstery (which was vinyl leather) as 'MB-Tex' just to escape the bad press pu and pvc was beginning to garner.

Originally popularised as 'Prestoff' in Germany in the 19th century, it went on to gain a lot of popularity under various names in the western world. It became the personal preference of manufacturers looking for cheaper raw materials for fashion accessories, furniture industry and more. Due to this initial meteoric rise, it was subjected to critique. It was not environment friendly, and it certainly was not as good as the real thing.

The rise of the vegan movement was another chance for faux leather to be rebranded and sold to a newer, more bourgeois consumer dynamic.

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