What is Coated Leather?
Leathers With A Coating
Coated leather is where a film or coating has been applied to the surface of hides.
Pigmented leather is a sprayed-on application and it is different to coated leather.
Pigmented Sprayed On
Films are applied to all types of leathers to give them a natural look and feel to the surface, but leathers with a film coating are much harder to the touch and not as luxurious feeling as pigmented leather.
Films are applied over splits and bonded materials to give them the look of leather, technology is getting so good, even the worlds finest experts are finding it hard to tell them apart.
Coated Leather Side View Showing The Split Hide
Coated leathers, another way of selling something for a premium, for a cheap product, that wont last long at all.
Split Leather Coating View
Coated leathers come in a variety of colours and grain finishes as well as metallic coated splits, splits come from the lower part of the corium of a hide in lower corium section.
Coated Leathers are made in many forms, as this coated leather is where the top coating has broken down showing the split hide below.
Coating Broken Down Showing The Split Hide
Coated leathers gain damage easily as the coating can quickly detach from the split hide causing peeling and blistering on the surface of the hide.
Coated splits are used a great deal for cheaper furniture or even on the sides and backs of furniture, but often sold as full leather items, if the coating is more than 0.15ml thick it can’t be sold as genuine and must be declared as such.
Split Leather Showing Side Cut Areas
With all forms of coated items, the touch feels colder, whereas genuine items will feel warmer to the touch.