Types of Leather

When determining the type of leather furniture you would like to purchase, it is very important to consider where your new furniture is going to be placed in your home. In what type of environment will it be? What are you looking for in terms of comfort, appearance, durability, repairability, stain resistance, and price? Let us take a look at a common breakdown of leather types and how they compare based on our established criterion.

Hides selected for upholstery are sliced to a uniform thickness on precision machines. When it comes to quality leather for upholstery, only the surface (top grain) leather is used. Hides from various countries and regions are used for the production of every kind of furnishing, from the most prized to the most ordinary. Pig hides are also used in the furniture industry, but this type of leather does not meet most durability or quality requirements.

The origin of raw hides can be divided into three groups:

• Northern Italy, Southern Germany, Switzerland, Norway and Finland
• England, Northern USA, Northern Germany and Holland
• South America, Asia, Africa and Australia