Vegan leather or faux leather, is a high-quality material that doesn’t cost animal lives.
What is Vegan Leather?
Vegan leather is leather that does not use animal skin or any animal product. It is also known as ‘fake leather’, and it is used for making clothes, shoes, bags, and more. It is hard to distinguish vegan leather from the original leather by look and quality, as vegan leather can be made from high-quality materials.
Vegan materials are highly preferred because we believe that animals have emotions and should be allowed to live their lives like we humans do without being harmed. It also has benefits for the consumers as some people have very sensitive skins and cannot wear anything made from animals.
How is Vegan Leather made?
Vegan leather is made from chemicals different from the original one and a different industrial process too. Vegan leather is made by bonding together a plastic coating to a fabric backing.
Firstly, the raw material is mixed with PVC and pigment to make it have a good solid shape. Then the material is coated on the fabric (base material). The base material is kept inside a foaming machine (a foaming machine is a long production line with a very high temperature). The mixed material will be foamed there to enable that the PVC is thicker. After foaming, the material will be embossed with a texture. The embossing roller, which has a texture on the roller, is the one being used. The texture on the roller will be transferred to the PVC layer’s surface; then, a different texture is gotten. Then a surface treatment to adjust the color and incase a printing or some drawings needs to be done on the surface.
Vegan Leather maintenance
Vegan leather is water-resistant and stain-resistant, which makes the cleaning process fairly easy. You can clean it with a mild detergent or wipes it with a partially wet cloth. Vegan leather shouldn’t be exposed to much sun as it can dry it and accelerate the aging process. You can also find some products to cover the faux leather surface to prevent high temperatures and sunlight from damaging it. Such products will also be useful in softening the material.
Benefits of Vegan Leather
1. Animal friendly
The production of vegan leather is a very vital step towards sustaining and preserving animals in the environment. It is necessary for us to be concerned about the lives of the animals so that they would not go extinct.
2. Impact on the environment
Unlike the original leather that requires toxic chemicals to be manufactured, which are very harmful to the environment, vegan leather combines textiles and polyurethane, which is less damaging.
3. It is durable
Vegan leather is water-resistant and stain-resistant. They can be exposed to harsh weather conditions and still have very minimal wear over time.