Leather vs Fabric Sofa

If you are deliberating between a leather and the fabric sofa; here are some factors that you should consider before making your decision. :)

1. Lifestyle

Do you have a hectic lifestyle to upkeep that leaves you little time to care for your furniture? Unlike fabric sofa, you have to maintain your leather sofa well in order to keep its nature sheen and luster. Application of quality leather conditioning cream is a must. Here are some tips for cleaning your leather sofa.

In addition, do you intend to keep pets at home? Hairy companions like dogs and cats are usually left to roam about in the house. As they do shed their fur at certain season of the year, leather sofa would be a better choice as pet furs are easily stuck in the fabric sofa and hard to remove even with help of lint rollers. Leather sofa is also more stain resistance then fabric sofa.

2. Design

Leather brings an elegant touch to any design and because of the luxury feeling it give to a room, furniture made out of leather are becoming popular nowadays. Note that leather sofa do not go well with design theme such as resort, zen and they are more suitable for modern, classic and contemporary interior design themes. In addition, leather sofa are usually more limited in color and design.

Fabric sofa by contrast is available in all hues, colors and prints. They are more versatile with a huge range of designs to choose from.

3. Budget

Budget plays a great part of the decision making process. Authentic leather furniture are usually 2 to 3 times more expensive compared to fabric sofa. If budget is a constrain, you can consider a half leather compared to a full leather sofa.

4. Durability

Genuine leather is very durable, will last a lifetime and cost far more than Synthetic leather. Genuine leather have deep grooves (like your fingerprints) and will have a distinct scent even when dyed. Genuine leather isn't very pliable and can withstand constant torture and punishment.

Synthetic ( aka PU; Poly) is far less durable and cheaper. Synthetic leather is extremely pliable and will stretch kind of like a spandex material. It has a more shiny appearance and generally far less thick than real leather. Grooves are mechanically pressed into the material in order to pass it off as real leather. These grooves are far less defined. Photos of genuine vs synthetic leather.

Fabric sofa is not as lasting as it is prone to stains, spills and tears (especially if you have pets who like to craw their way around a lot).

5. Comfort
Generally, leather traps heat and thus you might find your skin getting stuck onto the surface after sitting on it for hours. Does this brother you? On the other hand, fabric is porous and thus your skin breathe more easily. :)

Hope you find these tips useful. :)

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Categories: furniture, guide, leather, sofa, tips