What Do Furniture Manufacturers Mean by Bonded Leather?

GBS Enterprises, a company based in Sutton, Nebraska, has offered warranty protection for mattresses and other furnishings for more than three decades. A GBS warranty is a great way to protect an investment in a nice piece of furniture, such as a leather couch.

When purchasing leather furniture, it is important to learn some of the lingo used by salespeople, who may try to sell you bonded leather as a cheaper option. The problem is that bonded leather can hardly be called leather at all. According to industry standards, this material only needs to consist of 17 percent leather to get the name. The rest of the composition comes from extensive processing.

When a hide comes into the factory, shapes are cut from it for use in making furniture, but scraps always remain. These scraps enter a machine that grinds them into tiny pieces. Manufacturers set those pieces in a thin layer and adhere them together with polyurethane.

Because of this final step, bonded leather tends to feel more like plastic than leather. Furthermore, the product does not wear like normal leather; it will simply show wear instead of acquiring a patina over time.