Artificial skin substitutes: pressed leather, vinyl, eco leather

Manufacture of artificial leather arose because of the lack of high-quality natural materials and their high cost. Artificially created materials (vinyl, pressed leather, eco-leather, etc.) are relatively inexpensive. With the development of technology, old developments are being improved and new ones are emerging. Today, the industry produces various types of synthetic materials, which are used for sewing bags, shoes, clothes, leather goods.

The shoe market has recently been flooded with relatively inexpensive shoes, seemingly indistinguishable from leather footwear. Sellers in the stores claim that this is a natural pressed leather. But this kind of material is not natural, but artificial, just by manufacturing it is used skin waste. So this material can not be called natural. The very process of manufacturing this material consists of grinding the raw material (skin trimmings, remnants of pressed materials and leather dust) and mixing with resins, binding fibers. A flat sheet is formed from the resulting mass, which is dried and pressed. The final stage of manufacturing the "pressed leather" material is the application of the upper finishing layer. Despite a large number of stages of manufacture, the cost of such a material is low, which causes its popularity with manufacturers of cheap footwear, clothes.

Well-made pressed leather is virtually indistinguishable from natural skin and the smell very often has a similar (if quality resins are used). The difference is felt when you wear it. Already in the first month of operation, shoes, clothing or a bag made of this material are covered with small cracks, and some time later there are creases, the product bursts in places of folds. The same drawback has shoes from artificial leather. Some manufacturers have found a compromise option - they make combined footwear. In places that are not subjected to severe wear put pressed leather, in the rest - natural. Thus, the cost price is slightly reduced and the quality does not deteriorate too much.

Another option of artificial materials is eco-leather. Its development was started in Europe due to the high activity of animal advocates who boycotted the use of natural materials of animal origin, causing enormous losses to enterprises. The result of the developments was an air-permeable material that does not create a greenhouse effect and has a high wear resistance. By its kind and performance characteristics, eco leather is superior to even some natural analogs. This material remains soft in both heat and cold, always pleasant and soft to the touch. It is successfully used in the furniture industry, with tailoring and footwear, as well as handbags and leather goods.

There is still such material as vinyl leather. As a basis for its production, both natural and synthetic fibers can be used. On the basis of material, such characteristics as extensibility, strength, ability to drape, etc. depend. Various compositions are applied to the chosen substrate, after which the final finishing process takes place. At this stage, various techniques can be used: embossing, grinding, applying a matting or varnish layer, mint, drawing, etc. As a result, you can get a material that mimics not only different types of skin or suede, but also a variety of fabric weave. The number of shades and color solutions knows no bounds. You can get a metallic color, a chameleon with different tides and overflows.

Manufacturers argue that quality materials have good performance characteristics, and even pressed leather can last a long time if it is made on good equipment in compliance with all technological subtleties. But how to determine where a quality product, and where not? One of the ways out is to trust only well-established brands and firms that do not use low-quality materials, or buy proven natural leather.