It can be intimidating to decide on a new sofa to add to your home. Once you’ve decided that a fabric couch wasn’t for you and that you wanted a leather couch instead, you would think the choice would be practically made. But, the fact is that since leather is a natural material, there are many ways for the leather to be treated for style, beauty, and durability. Though they all produce premium products that can last a lifetime, it’s a good idea to get an understanding of the differences between leather types to decide which works best for you.
Luxury Easy Mode: Top-Grain Leather Couches and Loveseats
When you are purchasing your first leather sofa, a top-grain leather sofa can be a great idea. Top-grain leather is durable and high-quality leather that includes the outer layers of the hide. This means that is some of the most durable leather that is available on the market. During the tanning process, the hide is smoothed to perfection and the surface is treated and refined to a buttery soft finish that is both durable and pliable. This treatment process means that top-grain leather ages gently, with the leather becoming even softer and more pliable over time, but not changing significantly in appearance.
Since leather is a natural material, it requires some upkeep from time to time to make sure it looks and stays beautiful for years to come. Leather sofas made from high-quality top grain leather tend to require the least amount of upkeep to retain a pristine appearance over years of use. Generally speaking, your top-grain leather couch shouldn’t need much more than a wipe down with a wet cloth from time to time.
Natural, High-Quality Luxury: Aniline Leather Sofas
The other main type of leather that is used for the most high-quality leather couches, accent chairs and ottomans is aniline leather. Rather than a specific part of the hide used—like full-grain or top-grain—aniline leather actually refers to the treatment process used on the leather. Aniline leather can be either full or semi-aniline, and is treated with aniline dyes which don’t actually contain any pigment. The aniline dying method results in leather that retains all of the original natural grain, including variations in texture and scars from the animal. Therefore, only the most high-quality hides can be used for aniline dying purposes.
What’s Better? Full Aniline Leather or Semi Aniline Leather
Full-aniline leather doesn’t have the same sort of finish as regularly dyed leather products, which means that it will both require the most upkeep over the years, and will also reward you with the most gorgeous and dramatic changes over its lifetime. It does mean that it is somewhat more susceptible to spills and stains, and doesn’t like to be kept in sunny areas without some extra treatment or conditioning from time to time.
Semi aniline leather has a similar production process as full aniline leather, but in this case some additional pigments are used in the dye process. Semi aniline leather still uses the highest quality of leather, but this process produces a more uniform color in the end. There is also usually an additional protective layer added to the leather to make it slightly more forgiving than its full aniline counterpart.
High-Quality Leather is in a League All of Its Own
What only full aniline leather can do, however, is become softer, more supple, and age gracefully, ultimately forming a unique patina that can’t be created in any other way. Because it is an incredibly high-quality product, it is more expensive than leather dyed with other pigments. The natural beauty of a leather sofa made from full aniline leather, however, is wholly unique and utterly captivating.
Whether you choose uniformly flawless top-grain leather, or naturally beautiful full or semi aniline leather for your new leather couch, you will get a high-quality product that will stand the test of time, and only get better with age.