Leathaire vs Leather: What Is Air Leather Made Of? (5 Tips)
Manufacturers are always working to come up with a perfect material that mimics natural fibers. it is basically an impossible task as nothing can match natural no matter how hard one tries. Leathaire is just another example of this in a long line of examples
What is air leather made of? Air leather or leathaire is made from micro-perforated, polyurethane material. In other words, it comes from the same type of chemicals and petroleum products that make other synthetic materials. Plus, it was made in a Chinese laboratory and is purely synthetic in nature.
To learn more about leathaire or Air leather, just continue to read our article. It has the information to get you up to speed on this newly developed fabric that is supposed to mimic real leather. It may not be as durable as real leather.
Tip 1: Leathaire is supposed to be an upgrade of all the fake leather fabrics on the market already. It is easy to clean unlike leather and cheaper to get clean, also unlike leather.
Tip 2: Since leathaire is not as strong or as durable as real leather, it is best to use this material in low traffic areas or as a decorative pillowcase.
What Does Leathaire Mean?
One definition of the term leathaire would be that it is a fabric that is designed to breathe better than other fake leather products. In fact, there are supposed to be a myriad of tiny little holes punched into the fabric to let the material breathe.
What that process does is make any piece of furniture you sit on that has this material more comfortable. You do not get that sticky feeling or that cold vinyl feel like you do with other faux leather fabrics.
Another basic definition of the term would be that it is a label for a fake leather material that is designed to mimic real leather in almost every capacity. It is supposed to be as strong as real leather and as soft once it is broken in.
Then, according to some claims, this material is supposed to be indestructible. That claim has not been verified although many owners of furniture made from this material say it has lasted for 3 years so far.
Your experience may not be as positive as the example we just gave. It will depend on your living situation how long the material will last.
Tip 3: If you have pets, it is best to keep them off the material. Their sharp claws can scratch this material right away and ruin the look.
Is Air Leather Real Leather?
No, air leather is not real leather. It is just another faux leather fabric designed to cut the costs of furniture and materials down. While it is a noble cause to lower the price of fabrics and give you leather-like materials it just doesn’t always work out well for your savings.
Faux leather, like leathaire, are not usually as strong or as durable as the real thing. Some leather upholstery can last for 20+ years saving you a lot of money over that time frame. On the other hand, leathaire has not been said to last longer than 3 years.
This means you may end up spending more to recover your furniture than you would have if you bought the bullet and paid for real leather in the beginning. This is all stated using normal conditions as the guide.
Different living situations can damage real leather just as fast as leathaire can be damaged so every experience will not be the same. Pet claws will do damage to the leather just like they can when you use a false leather material. The real leather just may take a little longer to show that damage.
Tip 4: Cleaning leathaire should be the same as cleaning other faux leather products. use a damp cloth, not dripping wet, to wipe away any stains before they set. All you will need is some mild soapy water to help the cleaning process.
What is Air Leather Made Of?
This material is made from petroleum products that come together to make polyurethane material. Those products and other harsh chemicals do not come from natural sources so you can say that air leather is purely a synthetic fabric that may not be as healthy for you or your family.
Also, these ingredients do not make air leather as durable as real leather. You may find that the former fabric will wear our, tear, scratch, or be stained a lot faster than real leather will.
Of course, those characteristics will depend on the quality of both materials. Some real leather fabrics are made rather cheaply and do not have the durability as the more expensive real leather products.
One characteristic that leathaire has over real leather is that it is perforated. with what some people have claimed to be, billions of microscopic holes. The amount may be questionable but the holes are a reality. Those holes help leathaire breathe better than real leather.
Those holes help the fabric be more comfortable in both hot and cold seasons of the year.
Tip #5: it is possible to use baby wipes on this faux leather material. If you are in a position where clean cloths and soapy water are not available, just reach for those baby wipes and wipe up the mess right away.
Leathaire vs Leather
At this point, if you are still not sure what leathaire is as a fabric, look over this quick comparison chart to see more differences.
| Category | Leather | Leathaire |
| Origin | different animal hides | a Chinese laboratory |
| Years in use | 5000+ | 20 years at best |
| Fabric class | all natural with some chemicals used | all synthetic with no natural items used |
| Durability | very durable and should last decades | not as durable as leather and may not last 1 decade |
| Use | a variety of uses including high traffic areas of your home | a variety of uses but not good for high traffic areas |
| Breathability | not very good | breathes a lot better than real leather |
| Cleaning | hard and expensive to get clean | easy to clean and not that costly |
| Looks | has limited color range but always looks good | may have an unlimited color range but may look fake |
| Feel | sometimes rough, sometimes smooth but all natural feel to it | should be all smooth but comes with an artificial feel to it |
| Price | unfortunately, leather is very expensive | not as expensive as leather and quite affordable |
Leather can be used on shoes, bags, dresses, shirts, jackets as well as upholstery. While leathaire can be made into many of those same products its lack of durability makes it inferior to real leather.
Leathaire Fabric Durability and Quality
To be honest, this is going to be up to your personal experience. Many people have had good results although their leathaire fabrics have not lasted as long as real leather, they still get their money’s worth.
Other people may have bought lower quality leathaire materials without knowing it and have had bad experiences with this fabric. Do not expect your leathaire furniture to last if you have little kids or pets in your home. Childless couples or petless homes usually see this material last a lot longer.
To find the top quality leathaire material you should do your research first. The price of the material will be your first indicator of low-quality fabric. While leathaire is cheaper than real leather, if the price is really low, then a red flag should have been raised in your mind concerning quality.
Real leather is known to last over 20 plus years making it a cost-effective fabric to have on your furniture even when you have little kids and pets in your home. Paying the extra money upfront for real leather may save you down the road money if you buy leathaire fabrics.
Does Leather Air Peel?
This is a new fabric and so far very little has been said about it. One owner of a sofa sectional has stated that after 3 years of daily use, no peeling has occurred. But what if the leathaire furniture is older than that? So far we have not found any signs of peeling.
With that said, other owners have reported that the finish is not that durable and after a few years of use, it may peel as well as do other deforming processes. If you experience peeling on your leathaire furniture, it may be due to the fact that you got a lower quality material.
The best we can say is for you to play it by ear. You may be one of the lucky ones and get high-quality fabric instead of inferior qualities and experience no peeling. Where you buy your leathaire furniture may also tell you if it will peel or not.
Some retail outlets do not care about the quality of the fabric or how long it will last. They just want it to look good in the showroom so their customers will buy it.
Leather Air Fabric Reviews
The reviews of this fabric are mixed and more of the negative reviews dealt with other items on the furniture and not the fabric itself. here are those that do not like this material and make their opinion well known.
For them, the leathaire fabric has not stood the test of time or use and they are very unsatisfied with their purchase. For others, they are very satisfied with their purchase, far more than those who weren’t, and have let their opinion known as well.
This latter group thinks that the many naysayers against this material have never owned leathaire furniture. Our research has shown that is not the case. Those negative reviews are from people who have owned this type of furniture and have seen the many flaws it contains.
But if you are going to make your purchase of this fabric dependent on reviews then the positives outweigh the negatives by a very large margin. Your experience will be different and you may end up on the negative side of this issue.
How Good is Leather Air?
The answer to this question depends on who you talk to. As stated in the previous section there are a lot of people very happy and content with this fabric. They have found that it stands up to daily treatment quite well even though it is a cheaper and synthetic fabric.
That is going to be the key issue here. Fake materials are not always better than natural ones and real leather can outlast most fake materials because it is strong, tough, and very durable.
From our research, we have not found anyone that has owned leathaire for longer than a few years. The reason behind that lack is that this material is relatively new and may not have been invented prior to the year 2000.
What we are trying to say is that leathaire has not been on the market long enough to draw good conclusions. The best date we can find so far for the invention is the words ‘ a few years ago’ from a 2020 website.
More time is needed to properly evaluate this fabric. Plus, it needs to be evaluated in more applications than just furniture to be able to determine if it is any good or not.
Some Final Words
If you are going to compare the two fabrics, this new faux leather upstart may be an improvement over its faux-leather counterparts. But time will tell if it will be or not. One thing is for sure, it is hard to beat real leather when you want looks, style, durability, and quality.
Also, it is hard to beat real leather when you want to be seen as having class. Leathaire may be easier to clean and cost less than real leather but it is doubtful it will surpass the real thing in other categories.
