Is possible to produce faux leather that is better than animal one without any qualitative compromise? There is an actual producer of such material?
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Is it possible? Sure. Is it currently being done? Not that I am aware of. Most synthetic materials we produce fall short when comparing certain qualities at present day. Keep in mind the relative infancy of the synthetic materials industry, spandex for example only came in around 1960. And when you compare that to the millions of years that animal skin evolved over combined with leather being around since 1300bc we have a lot to figure out when it comes to making true equivalents but I think one day we will.
Faux leather is made from a variety of materials like polyurethane, PVC, and microfiber. These materials can be made to look and feel like leather, and can be dyed and finished to match the appearance of animal leather. Faux leather is also more durable than animal leather, and is less likely to stain or fade. But the market for high-quality faux leather is not as large as the market for high-quality real leather, so there is less incentive for producers to make it
How do you define “better”?
Plastic is inherently waterproof, but not very warm.
Cotton is very warm but terrible in wet weather.
Wool is very warm and good in weather but won’t keep you dry if soaked.
Plastic can rip and tear easier than leather, so thicker, stronger plastics like vinyl would be better.
A variety of plastics and composites can approximate the look, feel, waterproofing, and warmth of leather and the most common brand is called “pleather”.
I’ve also heard of artificial leathers made of things like pellicles (protein rich membranes produced in this case by various fungi and bacteria) which are both totally natural and have many of the same physical qualities of leather but are harder to source and also have the stigma of “Hey nice jacket, is that leather?” “No! It’s a protein matrix excreted by anaerobic bacteria and fungi!”
There is this company in NJ that is working on growing leather in a lab –
https://www.modernmeadow.com/news/the-future-of-leather-is-growing-in-a-nj-lab-no-animals-needed
The beef industry is producing more hides than needed. Buying leather doesn’t cause any additional cow death. If you don’t, there’s just more cowhide that get in the landfill. You’re not even subsidizing the beef industry, they tend to pay to dispose of the hides even if those are going to be used for leather.
So no matter what are your beliefs on animal welfare, there are no reasons to avoid leather from cows.
It’s a pretty good product since it’s resistant, warm and the raw product has often a negative cost and the cost is negligible when it’s positive, so you only really need to pay for the transport, process and retail fee.
It’s different if you use fancy leather from wild animals. It’s best to avoid that if you’re concerned with animals welfare.
Leather is what they call an organic-inorganic material. It is organic in origin, but it undergoes a chemical process that removes material and makes it inorganic.
The inorganic remainder has an irregular fibre structure. Think of felt, or a whole carpet made of cold spaghetti.
Natural leather, being organic in origin remains biodegradable. So exposure to the elements will slowly degrade it. Good care and regular maintenance of the leather helps to preserve it longer.
Polyurethane leather, the most common type of face leather, uses a canvas base on top of which there a cushioning layer and a cosmetic layer are applied.
Fake leather is of course not environmentally friendly.
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The most promising solution that I have heard of is mushroom skin. Basically, a special breed of mushroom is grown into large flat surfaces.
Its randomly distributed fibre structure give it an irregular texture that reminds of leather, and being organic in origin,
Several firms are working on their version of mushroom skin, but at the moment, the cost of production is still too high, making the cost of raw material more expensive than leather.
One of the main arguments in favour of mushroom skin is that it requires significantly less clean water than a cow.
I worked for an automaker for many years, had many finance peeps insistent that we reduce or eliminate cow hide from our cost.
Leather is a remarkable product, it’s surprisingly difficult to beat.
Polyurethane (which is one of many materials broadly associated with “vinyl”) Though that’s not accurate, vinyl has become like kleenex or xerox, it’s a term loosely applied to any non-woven upholstery that’s not animal hide.
PU is very durable, and the right variant of it has an arguably superior touch feel than top grain leather.
One of its biggest hurdles is that it doesn’t breath. Microperforations help, but its always a but like sitting on a hefty bag, moisture does not get absorbed into the material.
MycoWorks is a company making high quality faux-leather from mushrooms, it’s actually pretty cool and just got an investment from GM. Check it out.
There’s a guy who makes vegan leather from unsellable mango. It’s currently kinda pricey due to low supply from essentially being a one man operation. He claims the results are better than plastic leather.
Just as nobody’s mentioned it yet, there’s a Mexican company called Desserto making “leather” from nopal cactus, including an automotive version.
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