Leather furniture
 

I was just wondering how many of you have leather furniture? I was wondering if it is tougher than fabric. I am getting new furniture and I am really nervous about it. I want leather but, I don't know what kind to get. I have one 11mo old furbaby(4 lbs.) and one 11mo. old kitten(declawed). Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

I've had leather furniture for many many years and I think it does great with pets! You do need to know some things about it though. Mine is not a slick finish - I'm not sure how to explain what I mean. OK, I'll try. The leather on my couch is very very soft and supple and has a slight nap to it. When you rub your hand in one direction, it leave a light or dark path where your hand was. If I spill something on it and don't wipe it up right away, it will soak in. But, I've never had anything leave a stain - that doesn't mean that it couldn't stain though.

One the other hand, my daughter has leather furniture with a slick finish and nothing soaks into her furniture. She can wipe it dry with a dry or wet cloth. I absolutely love my furniture, the leather is butter soft - BUT, I have no children, only adults in the house so the spill/stain factor is minimal. I have a schnauzer who can't get on the couch anymore, but did when we first got it. Now, I have a year old Yorkie and he jumps on EVERYTHING! I've had no problems at all with it and it looks as good as it did when we got it 7 years ago.

We did have a leather recliner (cheap leather) that our Jack Russell terrier (which we no longer have) got on and did a digging motion and left lots of scratches on it that did not go away. He also scratched like that on the leather couch, but the scratches faded with my rubbing over the scratch marks with my hand a few times. I think the scratches would show and not go away on my daughter's leather couch with the slick finish.

The reason we got the leather furniture was that my hubby is allergic to dust mites which live in upholstered furniture, but cannot live in leather furniture. For that reason alone, it is worth it, in my opinion.

Thank you! I appreciate the information. I also have 3 children so, I may have to get the slick kind. Thanks for replying.

We bought leather furniture just because it is so easy to clean. I've never regretted it. Ours has the slick surface.

I'm a slick finish leather furniture-aholic! All of my furniture is leather and all of it has that slick finish on it. No matter what happens, no matter what dog gets on it, and no matter what they do while they're on it (furless kids included) it wipes right up and it's good as new! If you don't clip the dogs nails, and if they dig, eventually they'll leave nail marks in the leather, but if you clip the nails regularly, you shouldn't have that problem. My couch is now over 15 yrs old and looks like it was bought yesterday. I have a recliner along with a chair and ottoman that my mom has had for the past 10 yrs and passed them on to me a few years ago. All of which look just like they did when they arrived. That with 6 dogs and 1 - 5 year old little boy that abuse that thing on a daily basis.

Clorox wipes work wonderfully for cleaning spills on the leather furniture. :)

NEVER EVER EVER use nail polish remover NEAR leather furniture. heheheh

We bought leather for our condo here in Colorado and absolutely love it! It's very soft and sooooo comfortable. Toto has never left a mark on it, but she doesn't damage anything. ;)

We have had our leather set for over 5 years now. It's our first set and I will never have anything but leather again. We just LOVE it! It cleans well, holds up well and very comfortable.

You may want to check out www.leeindustries.com
My dad is a rep for their furniture. I have many pieces from them, they are durable and BEAUTIFUL!!! They have a FAQ section that talks about cleaning leather and durability.
Also, since you have kids, they make machine washable slip covers for their furniture AND they have an awsome new line of water proof "kid proof" fabric that is WONDERFUL! My slip cover has been peed on by my dog, thrown up on by my daughter and had more things spilt on it then I can keep track of and it still looks beautiful! The couch underneath the slip cover still looks beautiful too! I had a sectional sofa from them (it died in Katrina R.I.P) that was 15 yeas old, very high grade fabric. Any spills, even after 15 years, would bead up and stay on the surface. It was a hand-me-down from my parents when I moved out, then was handed down to my sister, then back to me, then to my Uncle and it still looked brand new!!
Also, when looking for furniture, the higher the grade of fabric or leather, the more durable it will be. Good luck and most of all have fun!

I appreciate all of you who have responded to my question.Ya'll have been very helpful. I am going to look for furniture today. I can hardly wait. Thanks!

Yes, I have a leather couch, it is ten years old. I clean it with the products they gave me at time of purchase and it still looks new. I believe Rowdy's mom has a suede leather couch. I opted not to get that for fear of stains. I agree that the leather will hold up to anything except your pups nails if digging and be careful of sharp objects in your pockets but you would be amazed at how they can repair leather!!!!! good luck shopping

It's not exactly a suede leather - as the nap is very very very fine, and does not look like it has a nap at all - it doesn't look at all like suede leather clothing. But you can see a slight color change when you rub your hand over it - so I guess it is a very very slightly sueded leather. You are right though, I worried about the stain thing - but it hasn't been a problem at all - then again, I only have furbabies, not human babies or kids.

Like the ultra suede clothes popular in the 80s??

I have a leather sofa (actually a sectional) that I've had for almost 10 yrs. It looks like new, and we really 'live' in our house so it hasn't gotten special treatment. I just wipe up any spills with a damp cloth, and on occasion I clean it with Armoral Leather Cleaner. It moisturizes the leather and makes it a little slippery for a day or two, but keeps the leather looking like new.

Nope, not at all - it is all soft, smooth and buttery - not nappy at all - very pliable - makes wrinkles when you sit on it sometimes. Nothing hard or slick on it - but definitely not like any suede or ultra suede clothing. Hard to describe????!!!!????