How to distinguish leatherette from genuine leather. Experts advise to pay attention to the price: genuine leather of good quality cannot be cheap. But at the same time it is necessary to take into account the types of skin. How to test genuine leather with fire and water

24.06.2019

Durable beautiful leather is used for sewing shoes, bags, clothes. The big question is how to check the skin for authenticity. The fact is that current technologies make it possible to produce artificial leather that is almost indistinguishable from the real one - more durable, prestigious and expensive.

How to test genuine leather with fire and water

Artificial leather is a special material that resembles the natural skin of animals. A polyurethane film is applied to the fabric, which has a different color and texture, and the imitation looks practically the same as the original.

To check the authenticity of the skin, it must be scorched, wet or wrinkled.

If you do not want to pay for a fake, you need to master one of the verification methods that will help the consumer distinguish artificial material from natural. The surest way is to test with fire and water.

If you bring a match to the surface of the material and singe it, then nothing will be done to the real skin, and the artificial one will immediately melt.
If you drop water on the surface of the product, then natural leather will absorb moisture, while artificial leather will not.

The problem is that not a single seller will allow either to burn his goods or to wet him. In addition, sometimes the manufacturer applies a protective coating to genuine leather, and it flares up when it comes into contact with fire. Therefore, it is important to know how to check genuine leather for authenticity without resorting to radical methods.

Other ways to check the authenticity of the skin

Artificial material, unlike natural, is less elastic, thinner, has a characteristic surface pattern, and differs in other characteristics. Here's what you can do in the store:

Place your hand on the material. If he almost immediately "warmed up" to a pleasant body temperature - this is the skin. The polymer surface heats up for a long time and will become wet from the heat of the palm.
Check the cut of the material. If it is perfectly even, smooth, or the knitted base is clearly visible, then you have leatherette. In genuine leather, the cut will be rough, rounded, with a clear weave of fibers.
If you look closely at the surface, then the pores on the artificial material will be exactly the same, and on the natural one - of different diameters and arranged in random order.
Stretch or wrinkle. Real leather is elastic. Unlike imitation leather, when squeezed or bent, it wrinkles, but does not change color, and when the pressure disappears, it instantly restores the structure.

When the production of artificial leather was in its infancy, it was possible to distinguish it from natural by smell. However, now this method does not work: flavors do their job.

10 ways to distinguish genuine leather from leatherette

Leather products are wearable, durable and with high-quality performance look presentable. However, with the development of modern technology, it becomes more difficult to distinguish leather from leatherette. Manufacturers are able to imitate the texture, smell and appearance of leather. This greatly complicates the choice, but there are 10 ways to recognize a fake.

Natural and artificial leather

Real leather is made from the skins of animals, mainly cattle (buffaloes, cows). There are products made from goat, sheep and pig skin, but they are not as wearable compared to those made from cattle skins. Leatherette is made from polyurethane or other synthetic materials. In appearance, it imitates a natural product.

Products made of leatherette serve on average three times less than leather items.

From the point of view of pricing, it is easy to distinguish leatherette from leather. Products made from natural material are at least 2 times more expensive than those made from a substitute. However, this method is not always relevant, as there are unscrupulous manufacturers who pass off artificial material as natural and sell it at double the price.

10 differences

The last way to distinguish leather from leatherette is a test by fire. It is risky, because if the material is fake, the thing can be hopelessly damaged. The skin near the flame does not ignite immediately. First of all, it will become hot, the smell of burnt flesh will appear. But with such a manipulation, the leather substitute will immediately begin to melt, curl inward or become covered with bubbles, a characteristic synthetic smell of burnt plastic will appear. The method works, but it is unlikely that it will be possible to arrange a check in the store.

Use psychological techniques. Arriving at the store, ask the seller if the product is made of real leather. If he answers positively, ask what animal skin it is made of, whether there is a corresponding marking, ask to see the internal seams. After detailed inquiries, the sellers admit that this is not leather, but a leather substitute. Be confident and show that you understand leather things. Then the desire to deceive you will not arise.

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With modern technology for the manufacture of fake leather, not every person will be able to identify whether the leather in front of him is natural or artificial. A natural question arises - how to distinguish leather from leatherette.

Leather

Genuine leather is made from whole animal skins: pig, cattle, goat, sheep, ostrich, crocodile and others. First, the skin is cleaned, then it turns into a semi-finished product, and then - tanning, dyeing, fixing.

Some types of leather production:

chevro - soft, durable, elastic leather obtained from the skins of goats,
shagreen is a thick, durable skin made from horses, the spinal part of cattle (cattle), as well as waterfowl: sharks, rays,
kid skin - very thin, soft, elastic skin from lambs, kids. Lacquer gloves are made from this leather,
suede - a type of skin from sheep, goats, cattle, pigs, deer with a soft fleecy surface,
parchment - skin for drums, tambourines. And other types.

Genuine leather, depending on the quality, can be rough, medium dressing.

The main value of genuine leather is that it breathes, that is, it passes air.

Suede leather

The softness and thickness of suede depends on the quality of the dressing. The better the quality, the more expensive the thing, natural suede is much more expensive than artificial. How to distinguish real leather and suede from a fake?

It is necessary, first of all, to feel the suede with your hand, it warms up from contact.
The pile of natural suede, if you run your hand over it, bends, the surface changes its shade and texture.
Real suede has no fabric back, it never delaminates.
A sign of naturalness - the presence of pores, scratches, creases.
Natural suede absorbs water.
Natural suede cannot have absolutely one color over its entire surface.

Signs of genuine leather

How to distinguish genuine leather from other types of substitutes? Real leather has several features, differences:

Genuine leather products are accompanied by a miniature sample that repeats the figure of an animal and a certificate of authenticity of the product.
The skin has a specific smell. However, this does not give a 100% guarantee, because Now, with modern technology, everything is possible, including giving the material the smell of leather.
Genuine leather has a fleecy and non-woven base, which can be seen at the seam, the cut is more rounded.
Real skin shrinks, shrinks when exposed to fire, but does not burn.
If even a drop of water gets on real skin, then a darkening will remain in this place until the water dries. With an artificial drop of water just drains.
If you put your palm on a leather product, then after a while the palms will become warm.
In natural leather, after bending, the original state returns.

If money is paid for a product made of genuine leather, then you must definitely figure out how to distinguish leather from a fake.

Skin substitutes

Modern leather substitutes have excellent qualities. They are durable and easy to maintain. Leather substitutes include:

vinyl leather resistant to high temperatures, sunlight, moisture, stretching, abrasion,
dermantin, today it is a high-quality leather substitute, is used not only for furniture upholstery, book binding, car covers, but also for the production of shoes and clothing.

Faux leather

Nowadays, artificial leather is widely used for the production of shoes, clothing, bags, furniture and so on. Artificial leather is homogeneous, can be very similar to natural, has a variety of colors. A huge advantage of artificial leather is safety for humans, does not cause allergic reactions. In addition, artificial leather is much cheaper than natural.

Signs of faux leather

The following signs will give an understanding of how to distinguish artificial leather.

A sample is attached to any leather product, if it is in the form of a diamond, then this is artificial leather.
Leather substitutes have a fabric base, threads are visible on the raw cut.
Artificial leather with a smooth, even structure.
Faux leather melts and smells of burnt rubber, and if you hold it between your hands, this skin will remain cold.
You can determine that a leatherette product is possible with a needle - it is pierced easily, and the holes remain with smooth edges.

Of course, each person is free to take what he likes best: genuine leather or leatherette. And he has the right to know how to distinguish leather from leatherette.

A leather armchair will decorate the living room and add luxury and style to it. But how can you tell if it's leather or not? How to distinguish real leather from fake? You will find answers in this article.

Faux leather and leatherette

So how do you tell real leather from fake leather? The most important thing to remember is that you don't need to burn any material. Yes, at the same time, the smell of burnt hair will come from natural leather and outwardly it may seem untouched, unlike leatherette or dermantin, which will begin to emit the smell of burnt rubber. But both the material will be spoiled.

Also, it is not recommended to soak the material and then iron it. Genuine leather will shrink and the more you stretch it, the smaller the patch will be when it dries. How, then, to check this material, so as not to harm it?

Look closely at raw cuts and edges. The reverse side of the front of a natural material will feel like suede, but for leather substitutes it has a fabric base, and it also has protruding threads.
Examine the underside of the product for the presence of a stamp. If it is present and a rhombus is depicted on it, then this is an artificial material, and if a sign is depicted on it that resembles the outlines of a skinned skin, it is natural.
Due to the fact that animal skins have an uneven texture on natural skin, areas of small thickenings can be felt.
Natural material is able to heat up and retain heat for a short time, which cannot be said about artificial.
Drop water on the item. If it is absorbed and the wetted area darkens, then this material is natural, and if water remains on the surface, it is artificial.
Take a medium-sized needle and gently pierce the skin. With artificial material, this will turn out very easily, but with natural material it will either not work at all, or it will have to be done with a lot of work.
Take the skin in your hands and stretch it. If you look closely, you can see small points of hair growth on the surface of the front side. They look like small pin pricks. You will not find this in artificial material. It happens that the manufacturer, trying to imitate a natural material, applies tiny dots, but their arrangement is uniform.
Perhaps the easiest and fastest way to distinguish genuine leather from artificial is to smell it. It's hard to describe exactly how genuine leather smells, but it shouldn't smell like chemicals or rubber.
If in winter the material cracks and breaks, then it is not natural.
If genuine leather is bent or stretched, its color remains the same. Unlike artificial, which can change its shade.
By pressing on a natural product, you will notice small wrinkles that will disappear when the material straightens. It will quickly return to its original state.

The difference between genuine leather and eco

Natural eco-leather can be distinguished from eco-leather by the following features:

Eco material is made from polyurethane film, and natural from animal skin.
The breathability of the eco material differs depending on the covering of natural leather. If it is covered with acrylic emulsions, then its breathability is lower than that of eco-leather, and if it has an aniline finish, then it is higher.
Both materials are warm to the touch, but sitting on eco-leather with bare parts of the body, you will not sweat, unlike natural.
Expensive leather that has an aniline finish is more pleasant to the touch than eco-leather, but at the same time, eco-leather is more pleasant than that covered with acrylic emulsions.
Genuine leather can cause allergies, and eco is hypoallergenic.

Both materials are resistant to wear and frost, but require careful maintenance.

Pressed leather

Pressed leather is a leather substitute. It is made from three components:

leather waste (small scraps, shavings, leather dust);
synthetic binder fibers (polyamide, polyethylene, and so on);
synthetic thermoplastic resins.

All these components go through the process of grinding, mixing, heating and pressing. When heated, the synthetic fibers melt and stick together the entire material.

The material is poorly breathable, but has a small price. Mostly bags, belts or wallets are made from it. Pressed leather is brittle and short-lived and often cracks at the folds.

How to distinguish pressed leather from natural? Since it is also included in the category of leather substitutes, it can be distinguished by any of the above methods. In addition, the pressed product has a chemical smell.

Now you know how to distinguish natural leather material from artificial. When buying furniture, you can easily check it. Upholstered furniture made from high quality leather can be found on.

Leather products are always in fashion, they look stylish, add a special chic to the image. In order not to be mistaken in authenticity and not to buy high-quality leatherette instead of natural material, you need to know how to distinguish genuine leather from artificial. Most people believe that a fake has an unpleasant chemical smell, but manufacturers have learned how to get rid of it by adding animal skin crumbs to the product. Knowing the main differences between these two materials will help you make the right choice.

Distinctive characteristics of genuine leather

For the production of bags, shoes and clothes, different types of leather are needed. Depending on the method of dressing, they have different properties - strength, breathability, thickness, wear resistance. There are such basic methods of processing natural material:

Raw. This skin goes through the processes of gilding and skinning. Initially, it is soft, elastic, but hardens after drying. This property is used to shape the skin, for example, when tightening drums.
Tanned. This method of dressing is the most common, it gives strength, durability, plasticity to the material. Tanning is done in different ways (chrome, vegetable, zirconium, fat, synthetic), such a material has softness, elasticity, water / heat resistance.
Raw. Such skin is tanned with aluminum alum, used in the production of saddlery and saddlery goods, orthopedic shoes.

Each method of dressing gives the skin certain properties. Features and characteristics that help distinguish natural types of matter from each other are as follows:

Name	Processing method	Characteristics
	Chrome-tanned goatskin	Beautiful appearance, pronounced graininess, density, elasticity, moisture resistance, wavy edge
Shagreen leather	Vegetable tanning with alum from different types of skins (lamb, horse, goat, donkey)	Fine-grained surface, soft, embossed, beautiful pattern
	Chrome tanning of various skins, followed by varnishing	Smooth or embossed, shiny, flexible, durable, waterproof, soft, stretchy
	Tanning of elk, deer, sheep, goat skins	Low pile, soft, breathable, high wear resistance

Types of artificial leather substitutes

Leatherette is an artificial raw material that imitates the look of natural leather. It consists of such layers: knitwear, non-woven material, impregnation and polymer coating, natural matter consists of a single layer. Leatherette is used in all areas of production. Many artificial substitutes are almost indistinguishable from natural raw materials. They have high moisture and frost resistance and an average degree of resistance to repeated bending. Leather substitutes are popular due to their low cost, practicality and durability. Their distinctive features:

How to check the skin for naturalness

In order not to be mistaken in the quality of the purchased goods, for example, jackets, you need to know how to distinguish real leather from a fake while still in the store. To do this, you can use the following methods:

Price. This is the very first indicator that helps to distinguish a fake. Natural raw materials cannot be cheap, but the price does not always match the quality.
Presence of embossing. All well-known manufacturers put their name on the product, which confirms its quality.
Heat transfer. Touch the product for a few seconds, heat it with the warmth of your hand. As a result of touching, genuine raw materials will quickly warm up and remain dry, artificial raw materials will sweat and heat up for only a few seconds.
Edge edge, material thickness. Artificial matter has a uniform texture, natural - a rough edge over the raw area.
elastic properties. Artificial material can be distinguished from genuine material by pressing. Natural skin at the moment of pressing is characterized by the appearance of fine wrinkles and rapid straightening of the material.
Bend the product, artificial raw materials may change color on the bend.
A cut of natural raw materials will have many fibers, leatherette - a textile base.
Deformation. When bending, cracks should not appear on the material. If they appear, you have a fake in front of you.
The lining of quality products is made of good materials, a fake will use cheap fabric.

Fire exposure

An ordinary lighter will help to identify genuine leather, to distinguish it from artificial. When interacting with fire, leather substitutes immediately begin to melt, and in the worst case, the product may ignite, since some manufacturers process raw materials with special compounds (aniline) during the manufacturing process. The natural material is not afraid of the touch of the flame, you can only smell the burnt skin.

Action of water

In this way, which allows you to distinguish a genuine product from a fake one, you will not be able to use it in the market or in the store, it is unlikely that such manipulations will be allowed there. For him, you need a drop of water, which you need to drop on the product. Natural matter will immediately absorb moisture, artificial materials repel it. If your drop is not absorbed, you have a fake in all its glory.

Specific smell

Hoping that your sense of smell will help distinguish a fake from the original is not worth it. Yes, natural raw materials have a special smell that cannot be confused with anything else. Artificial materials often smell like plastic, oilcloth. However, many manufacturers, when creating things, add special flavors to their composition. As a result, you will not smell chemical odors.

How to distinguish leather from leatherette

To distinguish leather from leatherette, try pulling the material in different directions. The substitute will resemble rubber, and the natural raw material will stretch smoothly, elastically, but unevenly. Then press on the item. The mark on the original will quickly disappear, and you will feel the density, elasticity of matter. It will be more difficult to push a fake and the fingerprint will be visible for a long time.

Pay attention to the pores in the raw material. This is another way to help distinguish a fake, to identify a quality mark. Looking closely, you will see that in the leatherette the pores are at the same distance from each other, have the same size and shape. In natural matter, the pores are arranged in a chaotic manner, and their depth and structure cannot be identical in nature. Lacquered skin can be distinguished from an artificial fake by bending. As a result, there should be no creases, cracks and scratches on the genuine material if you gently run your fingernail over the surface.

In addition to the above, there is another way to distinguish leather from eco-leather. Look at the color of the item. Paint in artificial material is absorbed better, so the shades are richer and brighter. Goods made from natural matter are not so colorful. In addition, eco-leather does not have a characteristic smell inherent in animals, which cannot be said about natural raw materials.

How to know if shoes are leather or not

If you are heading to a store or market for a new pair of shoes, also be guided by criteria that will help you find out the history of the material's origin, distinguish a fake from an original. This point is very important, because you will have to walk in shoes in different weather conditions. A quality product will not let your feet sweat, get wet, freeze and guarantees comfort while wearing.

Natural shoes must be marked (small sticker) with graphic signs. It contains information about the upper and lower parts of the shoe, lining, sole. This must include information about the material that makes up 80% of the top of the model, about the lining, insole and 80% of the sole. If there is no matter, from which 80% of this shoe is made, then only 2 main raw materials used for its production are indicated.

Quality shoes always have the leather icon that was used in the production of the product. This is a small piece of pressed leather in the shape of a rhombus for artificial raw materials and a figured badge for natural. In various languages, this specimen may have the following written on it: genuine leather (in English), vera pelle (in Italian), cuir (in French), and echtleder (in German). This secret will also help you distinguish a fake from the original.

If you touch the wrong side of natural raw materials to the touch, it will be fleecy, while artificial material does not. The front side of genuine suede dressing is also covered with a small thick pile. If you hold your hand, then visually the color of the product should change slightly. So you can always distinguish natural suede from its low-quality fake.

Appearance and cuts

You need to pay attention to the folded edges of the product. In natural leather, the outer fold resembles a rounded roller, in artificial raw materials, the fold is flattened, and it is also thinner. Examine the wrong side of the material in sections, the fake will have a textile base. In a high-quality product, it is unrealistic to do this at the place of the seams, since they will all be hidden, but on the internal seams you can try to find an open cut and see the reverse side, the wrong side of the used raw materials.