Is Your Leather Real?

 1. Check the smell 

The smell of natural real leather is obviously different from fake leather. Fake leather smells like plastics or chemicals, and real leather smells like animals, it has a distinctive “leathery” smell. Of course, cheap leather can also smell like chemicals if the processing is not done right. 

2. Use the sense of touch 

Leather is tanned and finished skin from the animal. You can use your fingers to press on the leather. Even if you press hard, the fake leather will retain their shape，firmness and texture, while the real leather will maintain traces for a period of time, just as real as human skin. 

3.Study the Pores 

Checking the pores of leather is also a test method. Since genuine leather is a natural material, it has inconsistent pore arrangement. In contrast, fake leather has a consistent repeating pattern and looks ‘too perfect’. 

4.Test the leather with water 

Depending on the finishing process, real leather can have water resistance properties. Like real Merino sheep, most leathers absorb some water. But almost all synthetic materials will repel water immediately. 

5. The Burn Test 

You can hold a lighter’s flame on a small piece of the material. Burnt real leather smells like burnt hair. If the product catches fire or melts, it's fake leather.