How much time do you have? We can get really nerdy on this, but here is a rundown in order of highest to lowest quality.
Full-Grain Leather: This is the outermost portion of a hide that has been tanned. Full-grain leather is used when the surface of a hide is in good condition—no scars or brand marks. That means it has the most true-to-the-animal look. Full-grain leather also doesn’t get split from other layers, so it’s the thickest and most durable grain you’ll get. All this makes it the most expensive grain you’ll find, so it’s typically used on more specialty goods like cowboy boots, bags, and saddles. The use of full-grain leather in furniture only happens occasionally.
Top-Grain Leather: When we’re talking about the best leather sofas, we expect top-grain leather. For top-grain leather, the blemished outermost portion of leather is split. The new surface is then sanded and treated and stained to create a uniform look. Top-grain leather is used in handbags, jackets, and couches because you don’t need to worry about imperfections in the hide, and you get more use out of a single hide.
Genuine Leather: This is going to be the most common option for furniture. Genuine leather (also called split leather) is a blanket term for the stuff after the top grain is split off. The texture is tougher, and the leather requires more staining to get that natural look. But it is, of course, more affordable.
Bonded Leather: Bonded leather is the lowest, least natural of what you’ll find. It’s made up of scraps of various recycled leathers. It gets bonded with polyurethane and returned to a sheet-like format. There aren’t any real percentage requirements here, so you could theoretically be buying “leather” but have a mostly plastic material.
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