Leatherette The Best Leather Alternative

By Author: William Pollard
Total Articles: 156
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If you want to buy leather, but cannot afford to buy good quality leather leatherette is a great alternative. It looks and feels like leather, but requires none of the care and maintenance that real leather does.

The Other Advantages of Leatherette

As well as being easier to take care of leatherette has several other advantages over real leather. It is usually far cheaper to buy. Finding a steady supply of the right type of leatherette is easy, because it is manufactured using machine processes. This means the exact colour; texture and weight of the leatherette you need can be replicated and bought from practically any manufacturer.

All but the thickest leatherette is easier to work with than leather. Cutting it and sewing it is far easier, plus, it is totally flaw free. There is no need to repair small tears before working with it and there are no thin spots to work around and take into account when cutting it. This means that there is far less waste than there is with natural leather. It is also easier to achieve the exact colour you want with leatherette.

The versatility of this fabric means that ...
... you see it used in a huge array of modern items. It is used to make jackets, trousers and occasionally tops. Even some shoes are made from it. However, by far its most popular application is to make handbags, closely followed as a covering for furniture such as sofas, headboards and dining chairs.

Choosing Leatherette

When buying this fabric it is important to understand your options. There is more than one kind of leatherette available. It is made by combining backing fabrics such as calico, linen and other heavy weave fabrics with plastic or a mixture of linseed oil and other natural products. Usually the colour is in the form of a pigment that is mixed directly into the plastic, which makes it completely colourfast.

The fact that there are so many different kinds of leatherette available means that it is wise to seek advice before buying it. For this reason you should only buy it from well-established fabric firms that have the necessary experience to be able to advice you.

UK Fabrics Online the fabric specialists sell a huge range of leatheretteand other fabrics to the clothing and furniture trades as well as members of the public.