Educate me on furniture please

[Kenneth in Texas]

Long story made short:

Have a lake cabin, used maybe 10 times a year.

Looking to buy some living room furniture. At my primary home I have always had real leather furniture, expensive and seems to last forever. At this cabin I dont want to spend the money on real leather furniture so i am considering the following:

* Microfiber
* PU leather
* Faux leather

Sounds crazy but im not familiar with either. Yes i can research it on the net but im looking for real world experience with those 3 choices. Pros and cons would be appreciated. I want it to be comfortable but at the same time reasonably long lasting (5-8 years).

 

[riptides]

What do you mean by PU Leather?
I know of top grain and the other quality under that.

I would go with a cloth. Easier maintenance don't have to worry about moisture as much.

 

[KennyG]

PU leather is a hybrid of split leather and synthetic material. It's not as long lasting as full grain leather but for the use you suggest, it would probably be fine. It's easier to care for and much less prone to stains than cloth. Of course, there are different levels of quality in PU like anything else. The only caution I would have is if you have pets with claws that will be on the furniture. In fact, if that is the case I would suggest cheap furniture that you throw away every 4 or 5 years.

 

[ustmd]

Don't get the Microfiber. I know they say it is stain resistant. Not really. We have had 3 pieces of furniture that all ended up looking like crap within 3 years.

Get the fake leather It will be perfect for your application.

 

[oosik]

We built a log cabin in Alaska and choose wood frame furniture. The davenport & chairs had removable cushions, cloth covered, that we treated with a product that helped the cushions resist stains and - supposedly - made the cushions vermin resistant. Fortunately we never had vermin in the cabin so I really don't know how that second part would have worked. The furniture was designed so that the outer cover of the cushion could be replaced, the inner foam could be replaced or the entire cushion was replaceable.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I worked in the industry and later taught furniture manufacturing in college. My wife works for a high end leather furniture manufacturer here in NC. High end leather furniture is not what I would recommend. We currently have a low end PU leather unit from a discount chain. With an in house puppy I'm not concerned with the tear in the arm. Just Gorilla tape and go. This suit is throw away and good for 5 to 10 years. Just my opinion.

 

[Creamer]

All forms of bonded leather, i.e. composite of leather and synthetic materials, are not good when subjected to thermal cycles or sunlight and will peel. In a normal household environment not in direct sunlight they are fairly durable but I would be very hesitant in a cabin that is probably not heated continuously. I would go with a cloth - microfiber or other - that is treated with a stainguard.

 

[JRobyn]

We've been very pleased with leather-look microfiber seating sets from Costco. Super price, quality is quite good for the price, very comfortable, fabric has held up well. About 5-6 years so far. And with one of their actual leather rocker-recliners.

What I dislike on less-than-top-shelf furniture is the very cheap and poor quality wooden frame materials and fastening. Like it was intended to come apart the first time you sat down hard. So we used to always buy the better stuff. Until the frame of one of our LaZBoy loveseats started to disintegrate. And LaZBoy's warranty turned out to be worthless.

 

[bunyip]

To make the analogy bonded leather to leather is like solid timber to MDF, construction is almost identical and is just pelletised leather sitting in plastic, it does not breath and cracks after a short period of time.
We have leather at home and in the cars and on hot days it is wonderful, you don't stick to it and it is long lasting, not cold in winter, well, not as cold as vinyl and it doesn't have that stiffness.
We had a microfibre chair and worked well for a while but seemed to get stains that were almost impossible to remove without signs of excessive wear on it, mainly on the arms and headrest.

 

[Kenneth in Texas]

thanks for the replies, still mulling it all over, man im in trouble since the wife found that "Wayfair" web site