What is Faux leather for furniture: Advantages and Disadvantages

Leather furniture in the house - it's always beautiful. It emphasizes the status of the owner, looks very respectable and makes the room more comfortable. But furniture made of natural leather is expensive - that afford not everyone can. Therefore, in the furniture market are two types of 'under the skin' of upholstery: imitation leather and ecological leather (Faux leather).

Previously leatherette used in the manufacture of almost all kinds of products, as it is cheap and relatively durable. However, it has one major drawback: leatherette is a fabric base to which a polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and other chemical additives. Besides, it is not breathable and sofa from such artificial leather is unsafe to human health. That all changed when the change came leatherette skin made of polyurethane with cotton basis ekokozha.

What is ekokozha?

This new material, which is used in the manufacture of 100% cotton, coated with a polyurethane layer (PU) without any noxious impurities. Furniture from eco-leather, furniture, unlike the artificial skin has no unpleasant odor, it has excellent breathability (due a large number of pores contained within the structure of the material itself), hygroscopic and hypoallergenic completely, so that it is safe even for children. Sofa of eco-leather is not much heated by the direct rays of the sun and does not freeze in the cold.

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

• non-uniform thickness,
• uneven color and texture,
• small flaws.

On the market there are not very many kinds of eco-leather. The main ones are Oregon, Alba, Companion and dollars.

1. OR: 70% cotton and has a high resistance to abrasion. This is the most popular material among all kinds of eco-leather and has the best price-performance ratio and accurately conveys the pattern of genuine leather with a fine texture.

There are also a variety of Oregon: Oregon Antik (has a glossy surface) and Royal Oregon (smooth and shiny surface).

1. Alba is also quite popular material that is capable of excellent breathability and vapor. It is resistant to light, temperature, small damages and wear.
2. Companion: a wear-resistant and durable than Oregon, also differs in structure - PU foam is applied to the film of polyurethane of pile fabric substrate.
3. Dollar: very high quality stitched Faux leather furniture. It contains in itself the best qualities of eco-leather. Imitation leather matte classic different colors (represented by a broad spectrum of colors from emerald to scarlet).

Advantages and disadvantages of eco-leather

Ecological leather upholstery as an option replacing expensive natural and cheap imitation leather, has its pluses and minuses.

The advantages are

1. High strength material to wear, abrasion, scratch and crease. Minor damage can easily be delayed because of the special arrangement of the cell polyurethane mesh.
2. Environmentally friendly, completely hypoallergenic and safe for humans and pets.
3. Virtually indistinguishable as the touch and visually from genuine leather, but the price is much lower Faux leather.
4. The good air permeability and hygroscopicity due to high density of pores of the material and breathable cotton properties.
5. Non-toxicity and the absence of unpleasant odor, which is peculiar to the artificial skin.
6. Simplicity and ease of care: to remove contamination from the surface of the eco-leather sofa is necessary to first on the spot with a wet cloth and then wipe dry quickly, so that the dirt is not absorbed.

Such a number of advantages of furniture from eco-leather furniture in front of the artificial material is certainly impressive. But there is this kind of upholstery and disadvantages.

1. It's still unnatural skin, though very close to it. So those who are important to emphasize the authenticity of the product in all respects, it is better to opt for furniture made of genuine leather.
2. If you have a cat at home, you should refrain from buying furniture made of eco-leather, as a cat claws are able to penetrate into the structure of the material so that it becomes visible cloth backing, which then do not delayed.
3. She quite quickly become dirty and hard to bring its surface traces of the marker pens, ink and gouache.
4. low quality ekokozha cold and long heated. In cold weather, a poor-quality upholstery have about making the blanket to stay warm while sitting on the couch.

How to choose furniture made of eco-leather

If all the pros and cons of this material already weighed and given the go-ahead for the purchase of eco-leather sofas, the the problem is only in his choice, because stores offer a huge number of upholstered furniture and different textures colors.

First of all, you need to pay attention to the manufacturer and reviews from other customers about it. After all, the store can meet a lot of models for a similar or lower price, which in fact will be the usual fake imitation leather, which after a year of continuous oblezet use. Since such interior items are not bought every year, you should opt for a well-known stores, it is written a lot of reviews on the Internet.

From then on, you can select a specific model, depending on the wishes of the texture, color and size of the sofa and check on the construction of build quality, connection joints and fabric integrity.

Eco-leather sofas - a great inexpensive alternative sofas made of leather, which will serve for many years and will remain in the same form as in the day of purchase.

VIDEO: What ekokozha?

50 photo ideas: Faux leather furniture