Semi-aniline leather, or...?

[Serendip]

Hi Folks,

My newish leather sofa had on it dye markings that I couldn't remove with leather cleaning solutions. So I tried diluted isopropyl alcohol that seemed to work with some rubbing. However, it also removed color and texture from the surface (see close-up photo). I was perplexed and sent the manufacturer a question how to fix this: they offered to send paint at a hefty price. While going through educational websites and ordering supplies, the bleeding obvious occurred to me: the material probably isn't semi-aniline leather as claimed. Solvent could remove some paint and lacquer, but it does not dissolve the leather itself. Furthermore, embossment is not mentioned, but the texture is uniform and has much bumpiness, which seems odd. A representative called me and sounded totally nervous as I pointed my suspicions: his explanation was that they may have "improved" individual spots by "embossment", and I may have hit such spot with wrong agent.

So what do you think of surface material in the photo? Can it be painted leather, which would amount to false declaration of leather quality? Or did I remove some totally artificial coating, which would amount to a fraud?

Thanks from a Newbie!

[Matt S]

I suspect that what the salesman told you was akin to something that comes out the southern end of a northbound male bovine.

At the very least the entire hide has been plated (embossed) with that pattern. It's too uniform. Nothing wrong with that, I like grained leathers and they help to hide imperfections but it is embossed.

What the rep said about enhancement may have been true in that the hide was levelled in certain areas with fillers etc. to hide scars or blemishes (possibly including the horizontal line through your scrubbed section). However in my humble opinion that leather has a highly pigmented, thick top finish.

Not sure how a white piece of leather can be in any way aniline though... I'd love for someone to show me a bottle of non-pigmented white dye...

[RockyAussie]

19 hours ago, Serendip said:

Can it be painted leather,

Yes it is painted and the rep should also be told to find out what a semi aniline leather really looks like. This is a typical upholstery grade leather and IS fully embossed. If taken to court they will lose for sure with such claims. That said these sofa's and such sometimes come with cleaning instructions and if so I doubt very much they will include diluted isopropyl alcohol. There are recolouring companies around that specialise in fixing this sort of thing and it may worth getting a quote to get that done.

[Serendip]

Many thanks, mates! My previous couch had "natural" leather surface, and lasted for ages. I was a real fool by not paying attention to the texture and definitions right from the outset when buying this one. The manufacturer is domestic, and we tend to be trustful of countrymen (except professional salespeople). If this was only about dye vs. no dye, I would probably simply conclude that I will be smarter when buying leather goods in future. But this "plating" goes too far: can you really call that embossing? In my understanding, embossing is mechanical processing of grain structure, so the resulting texture should withstand, e.g., solvents. Isn't this more akin to "bonded leather"?

On the balance, good to acknowledge that we might not be far away from what is typical in the industry. The manufacturer takes individual orders through furniture stores and ships directly to customers. I was suspecting that they might have engaged retail people to advice on how careful or smart the receiving end seems. That would have been an outright fraud. But it seems less likely now. Maybe the knowledgeable folks just ignore the promises and walk by after taking a look at the specimen. At least in this country, going individually to a civil court is not practicable. However, one law firm sought class action of consumers (not part of our legal tradition) against the tire manufacturer Nokian Renkaat after they had "cheated" on magazine tests (supplied modified non-retail versions of their products). Wouldn't lose anything by calling them.

[Serendip]

5 hours ago, Serendip said:

If this was only about dye vs. no dye

Meant pigmented vs. semi-aniline dyeing. Basically, I'm totally convinced that the pattern has been embossed on a heavy layer of filler. I dissolved that layer while trying to remove markings. The grain leather itself has no embossing.