Leather can catch mold if there is any dampness.
To avoid this, make sure your couch is not kept touching the wall and there is some breathing space. Moisture seeps through walls and since leather is a breathable material, it absorbs moisture. This feature makes leather an amazing material for humid conditions as it doesn’t get too hot or sweaty when you sit on a leather seat. With some basic precautions like keeping the space well aired, your leather couch will have a long long life.
Ball pen marks are almost impossible to get rid of
To avoid this, make sure your couch is not kept touching the wall and there is some breathing space. Moisture seeps through walls and since leather is a breathable material, it absorbs moisture. This feature makes leather an amazing material for humid conditions as it doesn’t get too hot or sweaty when you sit on a leather seat. With some basic precautions like keeping the space well aired, your leather couch will have a long long life.
Leather, if not tanned properly, can develop a strong smell over time.
It is so important to understand that what you pay for is the processing that the hide goes through to make it a material that lasts forever. At Hideitalia we source from the best tanneries in Italy and maintain stringent standards for our products. Things may look the same on the surface level, but over time, if your leather hasn’t not been tanned properly, problems may also surface.
Some leathers are delicate and need a lot more care.
Different leathers behave differently. The finish that you select needs to be well thought of after considering various factors like usage, furniture placement, design and so on. For example, if you’re looking to keep your furniture under a skylight, it's important to pick a leather that has more resistance to light so that it doesn’t fade.
Working with leather requires special machines and skills
Right from cutting, to sewing to cladding, leather craft needs the right skill set to get an impeccable finish. If you choose the wrong manufacturer, it may end up being an expensive mistake. Hideitalia recommends manufacturers after careful evaluation of their facilities, team, experience and skills just to ensure that your vision is in the right hands.
Leather cannot be measured in the conventional way like fabric or rexine
Leather has a natural shape and requires special machines just for measuring. Italian leathers are typically 50-55sft in average size and the exact measurement gets stamped on the hide after it goes through the process of measuring. This happens at the tannery level. If the measurement is tampered with, as a consumer you will not have a way to verify its accuracy and may end up getting cheated. Buying from a trustworthy source is very important.
Leather is expensive, especially Italian leather
When you choose leather as a material for your space, it is a sizable investment. It has a lot of benefits making it the best possible choice in comparison to the alternatives. There are several factors that determine the final price of the leather right from origin of the raw material to the processes that the hide goes through to become the final product. At Hideitalia we offer a range to fit every budget, so that you can get the best material for your furniture.
The only sure shot way to verify if a material is real leather or not is by looking at the back side.
What looks like leather may not be real and sadly there is no way to verify the authenticity when it is already clad on a finished product like a sofa. If it is a leather imitation, you will know this only after a year or 2 when without any warning your sofa surface will start cracking and peeling. Buying from an authentic source is key, especially when it is a treasured investment like a sofa.