A Stylish Faux Leather Sofa is What You Need

Genuine leather sofas can be much more expensive than their faux leather counterparts. This is not to mention the fact that caring for real leather can be difficult, especially if there are children in the home. Faux leather sofas are a safe alternative to real leather with many style and color varieties to choose from.

Faux leather sofas have received bad press in the past. The materials, rubber and plastic coated materials, was sticky, smelly and retained heat. Over the years, changes have been made to the manufacturing process of faux leather sofas and today, the material matches the look and feel of real leather almost perfectly. Faux leather sofas, like real leather, come in two major varieties. There is the soft leather and the hard leather choice.

Softer faux leather sofas are often referred to as microsuede. This material is far more difficult to clean than the harder faux leather choice. Microsuede will stain, collect dirt and grime and tear easily, unlike a sofa real leather sofa. The most durable faux leather sofa will be manufactured with a thicker material and a slicker appearance.

Caring for real leather sofas can require special cleansers and expensive professional cleaning bills. Faux leather sofas, however, can be spot cleaned easily with a bit of mild detergent and water. Water spots and stains as a result of cleaning, which are common with real leather, are not an issue. Faux leather does not absorb liquids so spills can be wiped away without harm.

While faux leather sofas have many advantages like cheaper cost and easier maintenance, there is still one huge disadvantage. Faux leather will not last as long as real leather. The material used to create the sofa will break down and crack over time. With proper care, that time could be 10 or 20 years, while real leather will last a lifetime.

When shopping for faux leather sofas, it is important to ask questions about the care and warranty on the sofa. If the material is higher end, the company selling the faux leather sofas will back their product with a lengthy warranty. It is also important to look at the color of the faux leather sofas in natural light. Many retail or furniture stores have no natural light which could mean your eyes are seeing midnight blue when the sofa is really more royal blue.

Faux leather sofas are appropriate for use in any room of the home. Pets will have a hard time breaking through the material with their nails and water will not harm the material if children spill juice or soda on the faux leather sofa. If there are children in the home, a darker shade of material may be best to prevent staining from the dyes in certain sodas and juices. Faux leather sofas are often used in doctors’ offices or reception areas to make the room appear more luxuriously decorated without the high cost.