Fabric or Leather?

We have fabric couch / love seat and a leather recliner.
All the pieces get heavy use.
They all started showing wear around 10 years and now at 14 the recliner was just replaced.
The couch and love seat will be recovered or replaced very soon.
As it turns out recovering with the same quality we started with is 2/3 the cost of replacing with the same brand.
I guess in a very round about way I am just saying fabric and leather can both be very good options.

I like leather, my wife likes fabric.
I seldom sit on the furniture in shorts but my wife wears shorts alot, leather is cold on her legs and fabric is not cold on her legs.
If we were going to get a unit similar to what you are shopping for it would be a nice fabric.
Neither of us are fans of the micro-fabrics.
There is no answer that is right for everyone, talk it over with your wife and choose what is best for both of you.

I will say that at least the fabric stinks pretty bad for awhile. They coat it in the anti-flammable stuff just like all cloth furniture and it stinks for a few weeks, smells like formyldehyde. I don't know how leather compares in this regard.

Anyone with microfiber would like to comment on how it holds up? I like microfiber a lot less reflective then leather that I use now.

tripplej said:

How to tell if you have bonded leather or real leather?

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As far as I know, typically you will have to pay a hefty upcharge and purposely get real leather, so its kind of obvious. The halfway affordable seating from popular companies I'm aware of will always have bonded if you get the stocked choices.

phazewolf said:

Anyone with microfiber would like to comment on how it holds up? I like microfiber a lot less reflective then leather that I use now.

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I've had mine for almost a year and it looks and feels new. That's probably not a good test though, ask me again in a few years.

I've had other furniture though. The only problem I'm aware of is that after a few years microfiber will get matted down and a little nasty looking, the arms will absorb oils from your skin and will get darker and slicker. I don't like lighter colored microfibers because of this.

Also there are WAY more fabric choices than simple microfiber. Just because its not leather doesn't mean its microfiber. Regardless, your better companies will rate their fabrics based on the number of rubs, so like if you find one with a 50,000 rub rating that's pretty good in terms of longevity, 20,000 maybe not so much.

I definitely prefer leather. Warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer. A little maintenance and it doesn't collect dust, or odor. For reflectivity, I just put a plush blanket on the back when it's time to be critical, or take measurements. And as mentioned, microfiber can matte. And that usually looks gross.

willis7469 said:

I definitely prefer leather. Warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer.

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Real top grain leather maybe. Cheap bonded leather or vinyl is the exact opposite. Its cold to the touch at first in the winter and after awhile it can get pretty warm, especially in the summer, especially on bare skin. This is exactly why we got microfiber. We had a set of cheap leather couches and my wife hated them. Personally I like thick top grain leather but our $2,400 set of theater seats was more like $7,000 with the good stuff. I can't do that.