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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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.
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