Pros and cons of leather couches?

[Apiphobic]

We're looking at new living room sets and wondering whether or not to go leather. We have two dogs and two cats. Our dogs aren't allowed on the furniture, but the cats are and they're not declawed. They don't scratch on our current living room set, but they do like to sleep on the backs of them. Our dogs don't really shed much, but the cats do. So ...

 

Easy to clean?

Easily stained?

Easily torn?

Cold in the winter?

Sticky in the summer?

Is it really better for allergy sufferers?

Worth it or not?

 

One of my friends loves hers and another says she'd never get leather. How 'bout you?

[Liz CA]

We're looking at new living room sets and wondering whether or not to go leather. We have two dogs and two cats. Our dogs aren't allowed on the furniture, but the cats are and they're not declawed. They don't scratch on our current living room set, but they do like to sleep on the backs of them. Our dogs don't really shed much, but the cats do. So ...

 

Easy to clean?

Easily stained?

Easily torn?

Cold in the winter?

Sticky in the summer?

Is it really better for allergy sufferers?

Worth it or not?

 

One of my friends loves hers and another says she'd never get leather. How 'bout you?

 

some leather rips - I suppose all leather rips or tears if sufficient force is applied. Some leather sooner than others. I would ponder it. How much are you spending on it - more or less than for an upholstered version? How long does it need to last? Ages of children or general propensity to mishaps of any family members?

Is it allowed to eat/drink on the couch? Cranberry/strawberry/any color juice, red wine stains?

If you have a certain model in mind, can you research "cleanability"?

 

So, no advice here. Just more confusing questions! Hopefully you get more helpful answers. :)

[Suzanne in ABQ]

We've had our leather sofa and loveseat for three years. We have a cat, and he hates the sofa. He never gets on it. He prefers soft bedding, or the piano.

 

Cleaning: It's very easy to clean. You clean it as you would your skin (it is skin, after all), and condition it once in awhile. No staining so far, but something like a Sharpie (that's designed to stain things) might be a problem.

 

Tearing: We have a couple little scratches, but no tears anywhere.

 

Cold in winter: It is cold in the winter, but it warms up pretty fast. If I'm chilled, I usually have to have my blankie wrapped around me. The leather is cold on bare skin.

 

Sticky?: It's not sticky in the summer, at least not like vinyl would be. I live in shorts in the summer, and have no trouble sitting on my leather sofas. We live in the desert, though, so ymmv. (I do notice that my legs sweat in my leather car seat, so I sit on a towel).

 

Allergies: I'm sure it must be better for people who are allergic to dust and animal dander. Nothing gets stuck in the fibers, because there aren't any. It's very easy to clean -- you just wipe it with a damp cloth. No more allergens.

 

Our sofas get abused every day, but they still look almost new (except for those two scratches). I'll never go back to upholstery, in my living room, or in my car. At least not while I have kids.

[pixelroper]

This largely depends on the quality of the leather and how they are treated.

 

We have a variety of leather furniture of a better quality-- many kids have jumped on them, people sleep on them, the dogs sneak naps on them all the time and they still look basically the same.

 

#1. untreated (for natural aging look, finish is now uneven) dark stained premium soft leather 9 yo couch:

Easy to clean? a little pickier

Easily stained? not if picked up right away

Easily torn? no (thinner but very supple)

Cold in the winter? no

Sticky in the summer? didn't notice it (if you are perspiring heavily maybe)

 

#2. treated w/a stain repellant (finish is still uniform) better quality heavy med stained leather 10 yo set (couch & love seat)--this one does scratch easier:

Easy to clean? very

Easily stained? not one stain

Easily torn? no (these are very thick but still very supple)

Cold in the winter? no

Sticky in the summer? never really noticed

 

Is it really better for allergy sufferers? yes, unless stain resistant chem bother you (fabric uses these sometimes too)

Worth it or not? yes-- if you like the look and feel of leather

 

 

I don't think it is anymore prone to ripping than fabric. Leather needs to be fed- it will feed on the oils in your skin and you may need to use something to keep it from drying out, I wipe down (w/a damp cloth) & vacuum reg. Pet hair has nothing to stick on w/leather.

 

IME the 'cheap' stuff is just horrible (cheap cloth is better than cheap leather)--really thin: will rip. Heavy cheap stain repellant-can feel plasticky & gross. I'm not sure of prices as I haven't been in the market for awhile. Look for the ones that look more natural and feel like good leather, not usually priced that different from good quality fabric couches.

 

I love leather. (I love animals too) PETA people, please do not go there:)

[RoughCollie]

We've had a leather sofas for about 2 years. So far, no stains or rips. It is easy to clean. Our dog sleeps on one and his claws haven't scratched or ripped through it.

 

Our only problem so far is that the dog did chew a hole in one of the cushion corners -- at least it is in the back and no one can see it. My sister's dogs ate her leather sofa, so I suppose leather is appealing to some dogs.

 

I like them because I don't have to worry if one of the kids or DH spills something on them. I do have one big rule -- no scissors or sharp instruments are allowed near the couches.

 

The leather does feel cold to me in the winter when I am wearing jeans. It is not sticky in the summer.

 

Our leather sectional is very firm, but our sofa is not. I can't sit on the sofa very long because it is so deep and soft that my back starts hurting pretty quickly. No one else in the family has this problem, and they all love it.

 

 

Crypton is the only other covering I would consider for upholstered furniture, since sheet metal is out of the question.

 

http://www.cryptonfabric.com/shop-online-crypton-fabric/main_html.do

[percytruffle]

Crypton is the only other covering I would consider for upholstered furniture, since sheet metal is out of the question.

 

http://www.cryptonfabric.com/shop-online-crypton-fabric/main_html.do

 

OK, how many others besides me thought she was jesting about the whole "crypton" thing before you actually went to the link?!;)Here I am thinking "Superman" and it's really a fabric. Who knew.

 

Now about the leather. We bought a leather sofa and love seat two years ago. We have three cats, two are declawed, and one dog. I am constantly amazing at the lack of pet hair on the furniture compared to the fabric sofa. What a treat to sit down and not stand up with a hairy backside!

 

The cats have scratched the leather in places, minor scratches. Jumping up on the back sometimes their back claws catch and drag leaving stray scratches. They are faint and thin. We haven't tried to conceal them yet, but I think there are products out there for that. The dog is not allowed in the living room.

 

If given the choice, the cats will sleep on the fabric sofa or the rug, but not on the leather, except the back of the sofas. For some reason the cat with the claws likes to sleep on the backs. I think she has a better view of the birds there. If we leave a blanket draped across the leather they will sleep on that. We also have a microfiber set in our sitting area off the kitchen. They love to sleep on that. It collects hair like crazy, and although it is fairly stain resistant it does puncture. They have left claw pin-holes in that set.

 

We haven't had any stain problems, but our kids are teens and not likely to draw on the sofa with a sharpie.;:D, I hope. We eat in the livingroom a lot, snacks and such. We've had minor food spills without issue.

 

The leather is a little cool in the winter, but warms quickly and is actually nice and warm once you are on it for a little while. It hasn't been an issue in the summer, just the opposite in fact. It seems to stay cooler in the heat. The fabric sofa traps the heat and stays hot.

 

I don't know how long our leather will last. It is not an expensive set, but not really cheap either. It is made by Ashley Furniture. So far we are very happy with it and would buy leather again. I don't think I would invest the big bucks to buy a really expensive leather sofa. I don't think I'd invest heavily in any sofa. They all wear out and I'd rather replace a cheaper one sooner than live with an expensive one well past its time just to get the most from our money. We have found that a good mid-range sofa is the way to go for us.

[RoughCollie]

I thought it was a Superman joke the first time I heard about it, too.

 

OK, how many others besides me thought she was jesting about the whole "crypton" thing before you actually went to the link?!;)Here I am thinking "Superman" and it's really a fabric. Who knew.

 

[Beth in Central TX]

I've had our leather living room furniture (couch, loveseat, & rocker/recliner) since November 2001. It has held up very well with our 3 boys. There are a few rough spots on the arm rest of the loveseat where your elbow normally rests (you can tell the places where we like to sit and read). The loveseat, the 2 ends of the couch, and rocker all recline, so everyone in the family has a place to lie back at once if we choose to do so. This works out very well for a family of readers, but only if you like to have your feet propped up when you read like I do.

 

I chose to get black leather to contrast against the white trim of our living room. This living room set had matching black/gray marble tables, and I found a black & white tapestry rug to offset the coffee table. I think it looks very nice in our living room and has been very functional too. The black color has also held up very well over the years.

[Aubrey]

Um, you stick in the summer.

 

I imagine you have to be careful w/ wet hair after a shower/swimming.

 

If your children should decide to write on everything in the house with a Sharpie marker, & they include the leather sofa which is brand new & not yours, the upholstery cleaning guys won't touch it. They won't even TRY to clean it, because it will ruin, they say. (Like it's not ruined w/ Sharpie happy faces all over it!)

 

In the same spirit as the above, you can't flip the cushions if you spill something that won't come off.

 

I imagine animals (did you say you have something--I can't remember) could tear it with their claws, even if clipped, but I'm more of a Sharpie expert.

 

HTH!

[OnTheBrink]

Cats will scratch it, trust me on this. Even if all they're doing is jumping up on it, their back claws will scratch it. One of our cats liked to use it for a scratching post. The dog never harmed it.

 

It was easy to clean, cold in winter, not sticky in summer and it was my favorite sofa.

[Rebel Jedi Mom]

We love them. We have one small dog who does not get on the furniture. They wipe clean very nicely and I don't think they were that sticky in the summer - but we like it cool in the house (Texas). Over the winter we would grab a throw if we were chilly, but it warms up quickly.

Jill

[rafiki]

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[orangeblossom]

We bought a really good quality leather couch 20 years ago and it's still in really good shape. It's just started to wear in spots, this past year, and we'll be moving it to our school room. We bought a leather sectional a couple of months ago and although the quality isn't as good as the old one (you can tell by the feel of the leather as well as the price), we still love it. It's very easy to clean and holds up well to the kids. We have no dogs or cats.

[Apiphobic]

Thank you for all your responses. You've been very helpful. Hopefully I'll find something the whole family likes.

 

And since y'all were so kind to help out, I thought it'd be fun to find pictures for you.

 

Liz CA

 

Suzanne in ABQ

 

pixelroper

 

RoughCollie

 

percytruffle

 

Beth in Central TX

 

Aubrey

 

SolaMichella

 

Rebel Jedi Mom

 

one l michele

 

orangeblossom

[Copswife]

I'll never go back to upholstery, in my living room, or in my car. At least not while I have kids.

 

 

Yeah, what she said. :iagree:

 

I'm in Florida and my leather furniture is never sticky. One thing it is, is clean. It's SO easy to take care of and keep looking nice. Everything else in our house seems to be worn, trashed, or broken due to children. :nopity:

 

Everything, that is, except our leather furniture. LOVE IT.

 

btw, I got mine from a classified ad. They were only a few months old and we saved a TON of money.

 

Ours furniture is navy blue and hides everything. ;)

 

 

We've had our leather sofa and loveseat for three years. We have a cat, and he hates the sofa. He never gets on it. He prefers soft bedding, or the piano.

 

Cleaning: It's very easy to clean. You clean it as you would your skin (it is skin, after all), and condition it once in awhile. No staining so far, but something like a Sharpie (that's designed to stain things) might be a problem.

 

Tearing: We have a couple little scratches, but no tears anywhere.

 

Cold in winter: It is cold in the winter, but it warms up pretty fast. If I'm chilled, I usually have to have my blankie wrapped around me. The leather is cold on bare skin.

 

Sticky?: It's not sticky in the summer, at least not like vinyl would be. I live in shorts in the summer, and have no trouble sitting on my leather sofas. We live in the desert, though, so ymmv. (I do notice that my legs sweat in my leather car seat, so I sit on a towel).

 

Allergies: I'm sure it must be better for people who are allergic to dust and animal dander. Nothing gets stuck in the fibers, because there aren't any. It's very easy to clean -- you just wipe it with a damp cloth. No more allergens.

 

Our sofas get abused every day, but they still look almost new (except for those two scratches). I'll never go back to upholstery, in my living room, or in my car. At least not while I have kids.

[Mom2GirlsTX]

in our house and I love leather. Well honestly I love upholstery, but with 2 kids and 2 big dogs I think leather works best for us. We used to have a white leather sofa before my oldest was born and it worked great (even when she took an ink pen to it as 1 year old...rubbing alcohol took it right off). Then we moved to a medium brown in living room and have 2 dark brown ones in game room...they look brand new and all are about 5 years old.

I don't find them sticky and I live in hot Texas...but we run our a/c.

My boxer is all over ours and still it looks great.

[percytruffle]

Too funny! Thanks for the laugh and good luck with the shopping! :lol:

[fenni]

Thank you for this topic. Dh has been trying to get me on board w/ leather furniture and I am really not interested. I'm going to ponder the points that have been made here.

[Diane]

We just bought our leather set about 6 months ago. I have to say it's the best thing I've ever done. Great quality leather is worth it. The trick is you have to somehow wet a little spot at the store...You can spill and let water sit on our couch and nothing would happen to it.

 

My kids pounce on my set so badly. We got the 5 year warranty on them because I was terrified of getting leather with kids, but now, after seeing the beating they can take, I'm not worried anymore.

 

Also- my Son gets asthmatic when he gets a cold, and we'd find that if he jumped on the couch he'd get a stuffy nose, start wheezing, etc...this all stopped as soon as we got the new couches. We wipe down with a damp cloth and we don't get it treated. I've never conditioned and don't plan on it either...it all depends on the leather you get.

 

Have fun getting a new set.

[Stacy]

Leather is definitely the way to go. They clean up nicely with warm, soapy water (probably not the best thing for them, but it works great). If they get scratched, it just adds character.

 

Some day I think I might like something different, but in this season of my life, they are perfect for me.

[rafiki]

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