Adding a leather couch to your interior furnishing undeniably gives that extra punch of luxury and classic décor. But before choosing the leather sofa for your home, the first query must be about its durability.
Besides genuine leather upholstery, the artificial leather technology has also developed a lot with time. The average lifespan of a leather sofa fluctuates between 5 to 15 years.
Durability of your leather couch cannot be said so precisely. But usually genuine upholstered leather tends to last three to five times more than the artificial leather.
However, durability of a leather couch depends on a number of factors as followings—
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1. The Type of Leather
As mentioned above, the durability of your leather couch depends a lot on which type of leather has been used for its upholstery.
PU leather, Faux Leather, Bonded Leather and Genuine Leather are the most common types of leather used for sofa, couch and recliners. But each has a different lifespan and durability.
Genuine leather is the best material for durability as it lasts up to 15-20 years. With time genuine leather gets softer and more comfy. But the downside of genuine leather is that it easily soaks and retains moisture. The chances of fungal attack is also high on the genuine leather.
Bonded leather contains 10-20% of real leather mixed with polyurethane binder and adhesives. Bonded leather imitates the genuine leather best. Its durability is less but close to the genuine leather.
On the other hand PU and Faux leather are made of thermoplastic polymer. These are known as vegan or artificial leather. Although these leathers imitate genuine leather with a more stylish outlook, it has a shorter lifespan (5-7 years).
2. Quality of the Upholstered Leather
There are grades in quality for each type of leather. Quality of a leather also has a role to play on the durability of your leather furniture.
For example, there are two types of faux leather— PU leather and Vinyl leather. Vinyl leather is made of mostly plastic material which increases its tendency of cracking and peeling.
PU leather, on the other hand, is much softer and has less tendency of tearing or peeling. It lasts longer than the vinyl leather, though both are known as Faux leather.
3. How You Clean and Care
Not just for a couch, this variable stands for all other furniture in your house. If you take good care of things, they last longer.
If you don’t wipe off the spill immediately from genuine leather, it’ll get mouldy. And you would have to say goodbye to your favorite couch much earlier than you could expect.
Artificial leather needs less care than the genuine leather. But it doesn’t mean— ‘NO care at all’. You must clean and take care of your leather furniture correctly on a regular basis.
4. Frequency of Using the Couch
The longevity of your leather couch also depends on how much you are keeping it occupied. If you hangout all day long over it, then don’t complain if it doesn’t meet your expected timeframe.
And if you have naughty children at your home, then my advice for you is to keep your expectation at the lowest. Just kidding! Hahaha…
Don’t worry, just ask them gently not to wildly jump or play on the couch. No guarantee they would listen though.
Final Words
In this modern age, most people do not look for furniture that has to last for 15 or 20 years. Rather, people are emphasizing more on comfort and a stylish look for a leather couch.
However, keeping the expected lifespan of leather furniture in your knowledge can help you make a budget and spend wisely.