Microfiber Leather: All Important Things You Need to Know

You have to consider many things when looking for office or residential furniture, and one of the most important ones is the material of the furniture you are buying. Not only do aesthetics depend on materials but also on how useful the product is to you, and when it comes to office furniture, microfiber leather is one of the best alternatives on the market.  

What is microfiber leather? Is it better than natural leather? We are here to answer those questions, so read this page if you want to learn more about this material and how you can benefit from it.  

You can also visit our website if you want to get some of the best faux leather ergonomic office products you can find online! Using microfiber leather items for your office is not only more affordable than genuine leather ones but also is an eco-friendly alternative, so check them out as soon as you can!  

What Is Microfiber Leather?

Microfiber leather, or microfiber synthetic leather, is an alternative to genuine leather, and some often prefer going for it to buying real leather furniture. Among all alternatives to leather, microfiber leather is the most advanced and highest quality option you can choose on the market, and it’s even better than standard PU leather.  

This leather alternative is made of PU resins and microfiber, and that mix gives several advantages compared to other furniture materials. You can find microfiber leather in chairs, bags, couches, clothes, and many others.   

It’s also worth noting that microfiber leather is not the same as PU leather, although people often confuse them. The reason for this confusion is one of the components of this leather alternative is PU. However, they offer you different things.  

Pros and Cons of Microfiber Leather

As it happens with all furniture materials available on the market, microfiber synthetic leather has some pros and cons. Some advantages and disadvantages are more important depending on the product you want to buy. 

An ergonomic chair, for example, doesn’t need the same things as a couch or a microfiber leather bag, so we recommend you consider that when looking for a microfiber leather-made item.  

Here are microfiber leather’s pros and cons: 

Pros of Microfiber Leather

• It’s breathable 
• It’s anti-odor 
• It’s antibacterial 
• It’s eco-friendly 
• It’s washable 
• It’s water-repellent  

Cons of Microfiber Leather

• Dust and pet hair can cling to it
• It’s more flammable than genuine leather 

Microfiber Leather VS Genuine Leather

Since microfiber leather has several pros and cons, the microfiber leather vs. real leather debate is popular among office workers and people looking for residential furniture. 

While many think microfiber synthetic leather chair is the best option out there, others prefer sticking with a genuine leather chair or PU leather products. The best way to address this matter is to check the features both options have to offer, so these are some of them: 

Eco-Friendliness

One of the primary issues of genuine leather products is they are directly made from animal skin, and many don’t feel comfortable using products that were made out of killing other animals. Therefore, eco-friendliness is one of the main advantages of microfiber leather.  

This material replicates almost everything genuine leather offers you, but it’s all made of artificial materials, so animals aren’t harmed while making products out of it. Eco-friendly enthusiasts and vegans often go for microfiber synthetic leather and see it as an evolution of genuine leather.  

PETA considers microfiber leather vegan leather and says it deals half the damage that genuine leather does to the environment. Several companies have switched from genuine leather to faux leather because of that, and some activist movements have even tried banning the use of genuine leather.  

Many argue that microfiber office chairs are not eco-friendly, either, because they use several chemicals that are still harmful to the environment. The truth is people also need to use several chemicals to turn animal skin into leather, and those processes are also dangerous to our planet.   

Features and Performance

The benefits of faux leather compared to genuine leather are undeniable, so you could say the former is a far better alternative to the latter features-wise. Chemical abrasion and aging resistance are the first ones, and that means you don’t have to worry about your faux leather office chair deteriorating after a time. 

Water is also not an issue for microfiber synthetic leather products since they are water repellent, so you can wash everything out by wiping it with a cloth. You don’t have to worry about moisture or stains with this material, either. 

Having these features doesn’t mean this material is too different from genuine leather since it’s an alternative to it. Therefore, microfiber synthetic leather looks and feels like you are using a genuine leather item. 

The main difference between them is the benefits faux leather offers compared to genuine ones! 

People don’t have to worry about odors when they get a faux leather product since this material is odorless, and that also makes it different from genuine leather, which has a unique smell due to coming after animal skin. 

Affordability

One would think microfiber leather is much more expensive than genuine leather due to all the benefits it offers you, but it’s the opposite. Genuine leather products are known for being highly expensive, so going for faux leather is better for you if you are working on a budget.  

Why is genuine leather expensive? The main reason for this is people need to go through long tanning processes to turn skin into leather. Those tanning processes include finding the right animal to skin for the specific type of leather or design a designer or client wants.  

Considering that, you could say the expensive part of genuine leather is not that it comes from an animal itself but that it’s complex to get the material in the first place. Making synthetic leather is much easier in comparison, and that makes it more affordable while offering you the same looks and more benefits.  

Microfiber leather is even more affordable than many other materials on the market when you look for office products, so you can take advantage of that if you are getting office items for your new workspace. 

How to Clean Microfiber Furniture

Although microfiber synthetic leather products are stain-resistant and durable, you need to clean them from time to time, and the process to do it is not the same as the one you would follow to clean other kinds of chairs or sofas. Cleaning processes change when dealing with bonded leather, PU leather, or a genuine leather office chair. 

You can do many things to keep microfiber products clean, and one of them is using a quick vacuum to clean them regularly. As we mentioned before, it’s common for pet hair and dust to cling to microfiber leather, so vacuuming helps you get rid of that issue. 

Some prefer going for a stiff fabric brush for the matter, but it’s up to you and the method you like best. Everything should be alright as long as you keep crumbs, dust, and anything harmful to fabric away from faux leather. 

If there were to be a stain on your chair or couch, you could use a microfiber cloth to wipe it away. Baby wipes are also ideal to address this situation, so you can use them if you don’t have microfiber cloth in your house. 

Cleaning your microfiber leather products often is not a bad idea, even if they aren’t dirty. 

Conclusion

While the microfiber leather VS real leather debate doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon, we recommend you always go for microfiber leather for your office and house products. The reason for this is they address all the issues you find in genuine leather things.  

Not only synthetic leather is more inexpensive, but it’s also more resistant than genuine leather, so you don’t need to worry that much about it going useless after a few months of use. This comes in handy for office workers since they sit on their leather chairs for long periods.  

Apart from that, ergonomic companies have excellent microfiber products, such as the Microfiber Vegan Leather Desk Pad, and you don’t want to miss out on the latest ergonomic features these items have to offer office workers.  

Other materials, such as mesh, are also excellent for office chairs, so click here if you want to know more about the mesh vs. leather chair conversation.  

FAQ

Is Microfiber Leather Waterproof?

More specifically, microfiber leather is water-repellent, which is not the same as being water-resistant or waterproof. Knowing this difference is essential when buying new clothes for the rain and microfiber products.  

When a product is water-repellent, as microfiber leather products are, its materials repel water intrusion, so water can’t get into it. Raincoats are the perfect example of a water-repellent piece, and you can expect chairs and sofas made of microfiber leather to work similarly to them.  

However, being water-repellent doesn’t mean being completely safe from water since it can damage the material if it gets to it or goes through the hydrophobic barrier.  

Water resistance is often less effective than being water-repellent since it means the product you are using can resist water intrusion, but that doesn’t mean it’s 100% safe when dealing with water.  

Waterproof products are completely safe from water and even have submersible capabilities. Microfiber leather is water-repellent, but you can water-proof it with other materials if you feel safer that way, so don’t hesitate to do it if you think water could damage your synthetic leather items.  

Is Microfiber Leather Vegan?

Microfiber leather is considered vegan by animal-protection authorities such as PETA, so you can use these products without worrying about harming animals by doing it. If you, for example, buy a genuine leather desk mat, it means an animal was killed for you to have that desk mat. 

Genuine leather is mostly used for designer clothes and things of the sort due to how expensive it is, but things are different when buying microfiber leather products. This material replicates what genuine leather offers you, but it’s made artificially, so you know animals aren’t harmed during the making process.  

Does Microfiber Scratch Delicate Surfaces?

Microfiber could scratch some surfaces, so we don’t recommend you use microfiber cloth without knowing if it’s safe to do it first. These scratches happen due to the cotton or polyester tags that come in microfiber towels, and they are especially dangerous to paintwork and things made of similar materials. 

Regardless of that, it’s also essential to know how to use microfiber cloths since, sometimes, what scratches surfaces is not the material but what you do with it, and that can happen with the softest cloth in the world. Things such as car paint and glass are safe from scratches or stains if you use microfiber cloths to clean them, though. 

How Durable Is Microfiber Leather?

Despite being more affordable, microfiber leather is way more resistant and durable than genuine leather, so it’s better for heavy-duty and daily use. This doesn’t mean it’s heavy since microfiber leather products are often lightweight due to the light nature of this material.  

Apart from that, you can trust microfiber leather to be strong and resilient, which means the microfiber leather products you buy are going to stay with you for a long time. Nonetheless, this only applies if you take proper care of them and clean them correctly.  

Everything should be alright if you follow the tips given in this article to take care of microfiber leather.