Today, manufacturers have learned to imitate leather so much that it is almost impossible to distinguish it from natural leather. What to do if you want to buy a leather product, and how not to fall for the tricks of sellers? About distinctive features You will learn about genuine leather from the article.
Signs of genuine leather
To quickly distinguish whether it is leather or a substitute, pay attention to the following points.
Cover pattern
A natural specimen has a unique pattern, and on leatherette you can see the same pattern throughout the entire fabric of the product. But don't be confused artificial material with printed leather, where the pattern is also repeated. In addition, real leather has a porous structure. If you look at the surface of the material through a magnifying glass, you can see pores that are located in a chaotic manner.
Thermal properties
An artificial specimen does not have the properties of accumulating and transferring heat, unlike natural leather, which quickly heats up even from the hands and maintains the temperature. The leatherette will, of course, heat up in your hands, but moisture will appear on the surface, while the surface of the skin will be dry. The difference is obvious if you hold both copies in your hands.
Wrong side or cut point
It is not always possible to see the back of the product to determine whether it is a fake or natural material. But the structure is clearly visible if you find and study the place of the cut. Real leather is made from suede fibers, while leatherette is made from synthetic or natural fabric. Now on the market modern material– eco-leather, which is difficult to distinguish from natural external signs. Its artificial origin is revealed by its fabric base.
Product weight
Faux leather is much lighter than natural leather. This fact can be felt even on small products. And if you choose leather jacket, then you will definitely feel the difference when you weigh the items of clothing in your hands. Please note that the weight of genuine leather may also vary depending on its type. For example, a product made from sheep leather will be lighter than one made from bovine leather. But the substitute always has less weight, which is why it differs from any natural material.
Smell
Leatherette items have a pungent chemical odor, which can be very difficult to remove. Surely, many have noticed this circumstance in the example of new shoes made from substitutes. High-quality leather material has a subtle aroma. Sometimes manufacturers use fragrances that imitate the aroma of natural leather, thereby misleading buyers. But this is possible if the artificial substitute is of excellent quality, because the aroma of a cheap fake cannot be masked by anything.
Ability to absorb moisture
You can check the product upon purchase by the reaction of the material to moisture. If you succeed, then conduct such an experiment to distinguish natural material from artificial one. If on genuine leather If a little water gets in, it will be immediately absorbed, leaving a dark mark on the surface. It will gradually disappear as the moisture evaporates. Leather substitute does not have the same absorbent properties. The water will remain on the surface, and the material will not change its color.
Tactile properties
The structure of natural material is always a little rough. The leather substitute is smooth to the touch. When the leather is folded, it will change color slightly in the fold area. But if you return it to its original state, you will not see any creases at the bend. The leather substitute will not change color, but visible marks may be visible on the folded area.
Product cost
Real quality leather cannot be of low cost. But the price factor depends on the skin type. Most a budget option– products made from bovine, pig or cow leather. This variety is often used to make shoes, belts or jackets. It is quite dense and tough. Goat, calf or sheep leather has softer properties. And the most expensive material with a high cost is crocodile, ostrich, deer or snake skin.
How to quickly check leather for authenticity
Before you make a purchase, make sure that it is not a fake. To do this, use the following tricks:
- Press the material, genuine leather is elastic and soft to the touch. After pressing, it should quickly return to its original state without causing dents.
- Stretch the product a little; you should not feel the “rubber” effect in your hands. But genuine leather quickly returns to its original state.
- Carefully inspect the cut site. Natural material is thicker than artificial. If you notice intertwined fibers, then rest assured that this is leather. The fabric base indicates a fake.
- Place your palm on the surface of the material for a few seconds. Genuine leather will quickly heat up and absorb moisture. The artificial leather will leave a cooling sensation in the palm of your hand. The substitute does not accept moisture.
- A quality product is confirmed by a small sample of the material. Usually, for genuine leather, a figured pattern is cut out. For artificial fakes, a piece of leatherette can be in the form of a regular diamond. The edge of the cut should have a raw appearance, while the substitute has a smooth cut in appearance.
Recently, most of us were comfortable buying leather items if they simply smelled like leather. It is quite difficult to convey the smell of leather, but, nevertheless, many of us are able to recognize it. This is all due to the fact that previously the leather product produced had the smell of leather, despite the processing process, but now enterprising craftsmen have learned to easily fake it. Therefore, we do not recommend blindly trusting your nose. Today, the online store Chikaboom will continue to give useful tips when shopping.
How to distinguish leather from leatherette?
Artificial leather (abbreviated name iskozha, colloquial: leatherette, leatherette) is a polymer material (polyurethane, polyvinyl chloride) that is used instead of natural leather for the production of shoes, clothing, accessories, straps for, haberdashery and technical products.
By following our advice, you can distinguish artificial leather from real leather:
- To avoid falling for the trick, apply your palm; artificial leather will remain cold, while natural leather will immediately warm up.
- Try to find the raw edge of the leather item and examine it carefully. Genuine leather should not flake. On a cut of leatherette you can see the film top coating, and on the bottom layer there is a fabric with which this coating is glued.
- You can observe how water affects the skin. To do this, place a drop of water on the skin being examined. If it absorbs moisture and darkens, then it is genuine leather, while synthetics will not change its appearance.
- A leather sample is always included with a quality product. Feel the product - artificial leather is much thinner than natural leather.
- We think that you have heard that earlier, in the 90s, in order to distinguish leather from a skin surrogate, it was checked using fire. Nowadays, this method has lost its relevance. Hi tech has reached the production of leather, and manufacturers began to add special components, thanks to which artificial leather can be charred no worse than natural leather.
- Today it is useless to smell a wallet, a glove or on the clock After all, any substitute now contains a flavoring agent that imitates the smell of leather.
- If they sell you a wallet made supposedly from crocodile skin, but not at a “crocodile” price, do not rush to leave the boutique. The presence of embossing does not mean that it is ordinary artificial leather. This could be a wallet made of genuine goat leather, which is simply embossed “to resemble a reptile.”
- There are also effective methods distinguish natural leather from leather substitute. For example, most easy way to find out what the shoes are made of is to study the label with graphic images, they tell you what material it is made of upper layer, sole and outsole of shoes. If the sticker contains leather icons that follow the contours of the skin pattern, then the shoes are leather. And if there is a diamond in one of the rows of the table, it means this element shoes, made of synthetic materials.
- However, even if all the labels and tags are present, this cannot be guaranteed to indicate that it is genuine leather. Of course, the counterfeit also has a label and tag, copying the attributes of real leather. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the edge of the leather; on it you can see the entire structure of the product. If you find protruding threads or fabric in the base material, then this item is made of faux leather.
- Usually, all the cuts in branded items are hidden inside, but you can try to find an unclosed cut, because lately manufacturers have been trying to prove the naturalness of their products, leaving the opportunity to see the thing from the inside. In real leather, the cut edges look and feel untreated, as if raw. A significant difference between genuine leather and leatherette is the pores on its surface. As a rule, the pores of artificial leather are applied as if in a cyclic pattern and made as a template.
- Today it is becoming more and more popular eco leather. Manufacturers claim that this is more natural leather than artificial leather, because it breathes. But where does naturalness come from if it is applied to a fabric base? But, nevertheless, eco-leather has good wear resistance and frost resistance. But the characteristics of the material are a topic for another conversation.
- Recently, such natural leather has begun to appear en masse, which is produced using conventional processing of leather waste; it is also called pressskin. It contains such components as trimmings, shreds, leather dust and other waste. To connect these elements, synthetic binder fibers are added, these include polyethylene, polyamide, and polyester. Synthetic resins are also added to the composition. In short, pure chemistry. It looks like pressed leather and the composition is leather, but right in your hands it can turn into worthless trash. Such shoes can deteriorate on the third day of careful use in wet weather; cracks will immediately begin to appear on them. However, do not rush to rejoice and wear such shoes only in dry weather, because after half a month they will look as if they had been worn for six months. To determine whether the leather on your boots is natural or recycled pressed, you should bend the boot at the toe or press the top of its toe with your finger. If small wrinkles form when pressed and disappear after the material returns to its original state, this indicates that the leather is genuine.
How to distinguish real suede.
To check the suede, you need to run your palm over it. If the color has changed a little and the pile has deviated, then this means that the suede is natural.
To find out whether the leather in front of you is genuine or artificial, use these tips.
Leather items are not only stylish and beautiful, but also a sign of quality, if, of course, we are talking about real leather. How can you find out if the product in front of you is not made of leather?
It's easy to spot a fake.
- Pay attention to the label
- Price
- Need to smell the product
- Look at the internal and external coating
- Look at the condition of the edges and seams
Pay attention to the label
If the label says “synthetic”, “leatherette”, “artificial material”, “leatherine”, etc., then this product is not made from leather.
There is often an inscription stating that this product is made of 100% genuine leather. But should we trust this information? Not in all cases.
Price
You won't find genuine leather products at low prices. You will have to pay well for a quality product. You should not react and agree to a “bargain purchase” - the proposed fake will not meet your expectations.
Take the product in your hands and feel: is it heavy?
If you take a leather jacket, this is especially noticeable. Faux leather is not heavy, but genuine leather is heavy.
Cowhide is heavy, but sheepskin is lighter. Note that leatherette is quite light, its weight can be equal to the weight of the fabric, or even lighter!
Need to smell the product
You will not be able to confuse the smell inherent in natural leather. It resembles the smell of an animal, and it is quite a rich aroma. Smell chemicals, vinyl is what distinguishes artificial leather.
You can try running your fingers across the surface. Natural leather will always have a rough surface, it will never be smooth. It may have a rough texture, often suede, but it does not have a slippery texture. By the way, leatherette has a glossy surface.
The color on the fold of a product made of genuine leather always changes; real leather is very soft. Make a bend and you won't see any signs of bending. By the way, if you do the same with leatherette, which is less pliable, then there will be folds in the fold areas.
The leatherette will have a fabric lining on the reverse side. Genuine leather will have a rough underside.
Natural leather will always have rough edges. As for the fake, its edges are usually hard, like plastic, and smooth.
Sticking threads, even holes round shape from needles - something that is typical for products made of leatherette.
Almost invisible threads, tight leather near the holes - this is what characterizes products made from genuine leather.
Try testing the product using water or fire
Using a match, you can easily detect a fake. Although using this method is not always convenient.
Note that the skin tolerates fire well, but leatherette will instantly flare up and burn well. The leatherette will smell like burnt plastic and will bubble.
You can check it in another way: wet your finger, rub the product. Moisture on a genuine leather product will disappear instantly. But leatherette does not absorb water well, so your saliva will remain on the surface.
Friends, support our group on Facebook. Share this post with your friends or hit the "Like" button! and you will always be in the know latest news"Whims"!
We collect for you best materials from all over the Internet from the world of beautiful, energetic, cheerful and healthy people - like you and me!
Products made from genuine leather, due to their natural and elegant appearance, are significantly different in appearance from any synthetic fibers. Today there are a large number of similar synthetic materials on the market at a much lower price. You can also find products that are only partly made of genuine leather, but the tag states “genuine leather” or “made from genuine leather”. Marketers use such ambiguous terms to mislead consumers. If you are planning to purchase an expensive genuine leather product, you need to know how to distinguish a genuine product from a synthetic material.
Steps
How to distinguish genuine leather from fake
- . Don't forget that genuine leather is made from the skin of animals, so each piece is unique, just like the animal from which it was taken. A frequently repeated, even and identical pattern indicates the production of this material by machine.
- There are scratches, folds and wrinkles on the surface of natural leather, and that's how it should be!
-
It should be remembered that manufacturers are constantly improving production technology, and designers are learning to imitate natural leather better. Therefore, online shopping based on a picture carries certain risks. Squeeze the skin in your hands and look for folds and wrinkles.
Real skin is wrinkled to the touch. Synthetic materials tend to retain their rigidity and shape under pressure. The smell should be natural and slightly musty, not plastic and chemical. If you don't know what leather should smell like, go to a store that sells genuine leather products and check out a few bags and pairs of shoes. Ask if synthetic products are available and compare both products. After such an experiment, you will be able to unmistakably distinguish the smell of genuine leather.
- It should be remembered that genuine leather is made from animal skin. Faux leather is made from plastic. Obviously, natural material smells like leather, while artificial material smells like plastic.
-
Carry out a fire resistance test. In this case, there is a possibility of partially damaging the product. In some cases, it is better not to use this method, but you can check the product in a small and hard-to-reach area that is not visible, for example, at the bottom of the sofa. Hold the flame near the surface of the material for 5-10 seconds:
Pay attention to the edge of the product. Real leather has uneven edges, while the edge of artificial leather is smooth and even perfect. Machine-produced leather has a clean cut. The edges are made of genuine leather large quantity threads that fall off. Faux leather is made of plastic, so it does not have such fibers, and the cut line is clean.
Crumple a leather item to slightly change its natural color. Genuine leather has good elasticity and changes color and wrinkles when bent. Artificial leather is much tougher and retains its shape better, and bends worse in comparison with natural leather.
Apply to product a small amount of water. At the same time, genuine leather will absorb moisture. If you are holding a high-quality fake, then a small puddle will form on the surface. Genuine leather absorbs a drop of water within a few seconds, thereby confirming its authenticity.
Products made from real leather cannot be cheap. The price of a product made entirely of genuine leather is quite high. Such items are usually sold at fixed prices. Go shopping to check the prices of genuine, mixed and faux leather products - this will help you understand the difference between them. Among all types of natural leather, cow leather is the most expensive, as it has high strength and is easy to dye. Split leather, which is obtained by layering leather, is cheaper than full-grain leather or belt leather.
-
Don't pay attention to the color, because even colored leather may be natural. The bright blue color of leather furniture may not look natural, but that doesn't mean it isn't. Various colors and dyes are used on both synthetic and natural leather, so first of all you should pay attention to the smell and texture of the product.
Distinguish between types of genuine leather
-
“Genuine leather” is just one of the actual types of leather on the market. Most people have difficulty distinguishing real leather from substitute or artificial leather. Connoisseurs know that there are several types of genuine leather, of which “genuine leather” is almost the lowest class. Starting from the most expensive type, there is the following classification:
- Full grain leather
- Facial skin
- Genuine Leather
- Synthetic leather
-
Beware of buying products that do not have the "genuine leather" tag. If it is marked "man-made material", then it is definitely synthetic leather. If nothing is indicated, then most likely the manufacturer wants to keep silent about the fact that the leather is not real. Of course, used items may not have tags at all. However, most manufacturers are proud to use genuine leather, so they make the appropriate marks:
Examine the surface of the item for grain, small bumps and pores, imperfections and unique texture that indicate genuine leather. Defects on the surface of the leather actually characterize its quality with positive side
Inga Mayakovskaya
Reading time: 6 minutes
A A
On the market today leather goods It's hard not to get confused. In addition to the usual artificial leather, sellers offer products made from pressed leather, assuring that this is also genuine leather. Is this so, and how to distinguish natural leather from artificial leather, you will find out in this article.
What is pressed leather and how does it differ from genuine leather?
Let’s immediately make a reservation that pressed leather, in fact, does not exist. This is the same leatherette
. Only during production is part of the leather waste - trimmings, shavings or leather dust - mixed into its synthetic composition. Then everything is crushed, mixed, heated and pressed. When heated, synthetic fibers melt, gluing the material. The result is a fairly cheap material with low air and moisture permeability
. Yes, this material is suitable for the production of bags, wallets or belts, but shoes are made from it rigid and inelastic
, harm to the foot. The main problem with pressed leather is its fragility; such products are short-lived: belts and fasteners after a short use crack at the folds
.
Signs of natural leather in products - how to distinguish natural leather from artificial leather?
Unique properties of genuine leather impossible to transfer to synthetic materials
. Elasticity, breathability, density, thermal conductivity, water absorption - these are the most beneficial features skin. Of course, real leather is different high demand and price
. Therefore, unfortunately, there are many ways to imitate genuine leather. To distinguish artificial leather from natural leather, we must know the main features. 
So, what should you look for to distinguish real leather from artificial leather?
Many people are mistaken when they say that real leather you have to set it on fire and it won't catch fire. It is necessary to take into account the fact that the skin is treated aniline coating , which can burn when heated. There are also cases when they stick to the skin drawing or print . Of course, in this case, some properties for testing change, but still this is genuine leather, and according to the main features described above, it can be distinguished from artificial .
