When buying shoes and bags, how can you tell the difference between genuine leather and other imitation leather materials?
Have you ever seen a pair of shoes, bag, or jacket and wondered if they were genuine leather or imitation leather?
Imitation leather is a kind of artificial leather. Imitation leather has the same look and feel as real leather but at a cheaper price. It can be made from several other materials besides leather.
With so much confusion over whether a product is made of genuine leather or imitation, This article explains how you can tell the difference between the two, and I've included some tips on how to identify them at times when they look similar in appearance.
So here are 14 ways to identify genuine leather and imitation leather, and I've included some tips on how to identify them at times when they look similar in appearance.
1、Pressing method
Use your finger to press the leather surface, if the leather surface is wrinkled, the finger removed and restored, that is genuine leather, and vice versa may be fake leather, this method requires more sophisticated people can know.
2, Although both buffalo leather and buffalo leather, are referred to as cow leather, there are notable distinctions between the two. In comparison to yellow cow leather, the pores on the surface of buffalo leather are rougher, there are fewer pores overall, and the leather is looser and less detailed. Buffalo leather has spherical, straight-into-the-leather pores that are tight, even, and asymmetrically spaced, like a night sky full of stars. Sheep leather: the pores on the surface of leather grain are flat and round, the pores are clear, and several of them form a group, arranged in the shape of a fish scale. Horse leather has oval-shaped hair on its surface that is more consistently spaced and bigger than the pores of yellow cow leather.
3, Of course, with the eyes, the real leather surface has clearer pores, with the pattern, if it is yellow leather has more proportional fine pores, while goat leather has fish scale pores, yak leather has thicker and sparse pores. And artificial leather is no pores. Turn over the front to look at the reverse side of the leather, (if it is a finished product, you can find the edges and corners to turn over) to find the parts without folding, if it is the bottom cloth, it must be artificial leather or synthetic leather.
4、Water drip method
Use a little water drip to the leather surface, and then use cloth or paper towel sassafras off the water, and then finger pinch wet parts, real leather is a little sticky, (because it is biological leather) and artificial leather is smooth.
5、Fire method
Cut a bit of leather, with a lighter burning, real leather has the smell of burnt protein, if you do not know the taste of protein, you can burn their hair (one is enough) if different from the taste of such protein should be real leather.
6, Smell with the nose
The smell of leather inside the car, I believe that many people have asked, leather has a certain taste single is not a pungent taste, but the biological natural taste. Too much solvent or paint odor is undesirable since excellent leather shouldn't smell strongly after treatment.
7, Knife cut method with a blade to isolate the leather layer, watch the color distribution of the leather, the normal distribution is the appearance of the deep, shallow inside, the idea you should know, this leather either fake or is the second treatment
8、Magnification method
Science with a magnifying glass, at 30 times, see the rough surface, which is genuine leather, pay attention to carefully polished leather is also relatively smooth such as many cars are usually like this.
9, To the factory to provide the leather sample number, genuine leather is to calculate the price by area, imitation leather is to calculate the price by meter, genuine leather usually has imported single number or hit on the area of the seal, imitation leather will not hit on the seal.
10, Genuine leather whether cattle, pigs, or raising, in the breeding time, will usually be branded, in the reverse side of the leather will generally have a brand, and the manufacturer asked to see the brand, some sofas, or leather, or shoes of the reverse side of the leather has a brand.
11, Use your fingers to rub two layers of leather, leather will be browner, and imitation leather will have the feeling of the bottom cloth, leather generally can not rub, because the reverse side is all flip hair, simply can not rub. I have a habit, every time I go to a company will try to rub the sofa leather, can rub out the level of imported leather, and domestic leather is great.
12, Layering method
Cowhide may be separated into numerous layers (up to 8 layers), with the first layer's outermost layer having the greatest quality. The second layer follows, however it has inferior strength, flexibility, and breathability to the first layer. The bag generally chooses to choose the first layer of leather. Now on the market to sell composite leather is the surface of the second layer of leather attached to a layer of adhesive film, the surface is exquisite, and looks very much like the first layer of leather, some merchants use this impersonation of the first layer of leather, cheat users, should pay attention to identify. From a professional point of view, identify the leather from the smell, specific gravity, light resistance, migration resistance, fogging, thermal yellowing, friction resistance, etc. of automotive leather
13、Reagent method
Is to buy reagent, wipe on the surface, if it is genuine leather will be brighter and brighter, like shoe polish, and imitation leather will not shine, after wiping the surface fade or peel off that is imitation leather, the most benchmark is the poor quality of leather.
14、The ultimate identification method
The microscope as long as the magnification is 40-80 times, and with a table lamp directly on the top of the leather, does not shine from below, because the skin does not transmit light, only from above. At this point, you will find that there are hairs on the top of the leather, a cluster of clusters, each pore, of course, the naked eye is invisible, why there are hairs, I do not need to explain. What about fake leather? There must be no hair.
Hopefully, we've given you some valuable information about how to tell the difference between genuine leather and imitation leather. We would also like to point out that there are certain pairs of leather bags where you cannot tell whether it is genuine or imitation by just looking at them. To overcome this problem, many manufacturers have started printing a tag on the tongue of the shoe just above the shoe laces that says "Genuine Leather". Furthermore, you should check the box of the bag to see if it's genuine leather. So, before buying the next leather bag of your favorite leather products, look out for those tags!
