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Hi, Pamalison here.
ReplyDeleteSo, here's a question for the community this Tuesday morning:- what does the term "high quality leather" mean to you? How do you expect it to look, feel, smell?
When I first joined Philofaxy I was curious to work out the differences between the various types of leather used by Filofax. It opened up a whole new world of what can be classed as 'real leather'
DeleteA quick look at the Wikipedia page is a good starting point:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leather
But it made me realise that you can't trust any of the descriptions for 'leather' goods because they vary so much. Take messenger bags as an example look on Amazon for a leather messenger bag and the prices vary hugely, yet a messenger bag is quite a large item, quite a large area of leather yet look at the prices compared to your average planner or organiser!
Not to mention the fury caused by trying to search for "leather" and getting row after row of "PU leather" or "vegan leather" results. That's PLASTIC, people!!!
DeleteMarios K.
ReplyDeleteFor me a good leather has to have a beautiful - vivid grain, a intence smell (of leather) and to be soft to the touch.
Sometimes you can feel thats a good leather just from smelling and touching it.
On a related point, how do you tell the difference between REAL leather and one of the many imposters? It used to be relatively easy, but not any more. Looking through Amazon for leather phone cases it soon becomes clear that 'leather' can come in many forms.
ReplyDeleteTexture, feel and smell can all now be replicated in faux leather and many real leathers are coated, which negates many of the tests people trust (particularly water drop, touch and smell). False grain can be randomised, the feel varies too much in both to give any true indication and leather smell has long been infused into faux leather car seats.
Bonded leather, as used for the Filofax City and others, is another problem - but to be fair to Filofax, calling a model 'Bond' gives it away!
I bought a chair (not cheaply) from John Lewis sold as leather which aged well, came with a leather maintenance kit, looked absolutely genuine and even smelled right but when damaged by fire some years later, melted into a pool of plastic (except for the armrests covers, which were leather). To me this disqualifies trusted sources as a guarantee, which anyway couldn't apply to second-hand goods.
I'm sure this must have been discussed here before, but how do others check the authenticity of alleged 'real leather' goods? Apart from the flame test of course, reliable but impractical - I'm barred from W H Smith for life! 😄
Then there's 'recycled leather'. Which seems to be like 'shaped meat'; taken apart to a level of fibres, and then put back together, presumably with some binding agent.
ReplyDeleteThe coated leathers also seem wrong, but must be done for some reason of cost
Kevin