LEATHER OR FABRIC SOFA?

New sofas are a big purchase, so you want to be happy with your choice for a long time ahead. A common dilemma experienced when deciding on a new sofa is whether to buy leather or fabric.

Leather and fabric sofas both have their positive and negative characteristics. To help you decide we’ve outlined the benefits of each. 

Benefits of Leather Sofas

• Long lasting – leather tends to last longer than fabric. Leather is stronger, stain resistant (darker colours) and less likely to tear or fray than fabric.
• Hypoallergenic - leather doesn’t harbour dust mites and other allergens as easily as fabric does so can be better for allergy sufferers.
• Easy to look after – leather is very easy to clean. Unlike fabric, you can easily wipe spills off leather furniture. Fabric needs to be vacuumed and cleaned regularly.
• Appearance - a leather sofa tends to look more upmarket and high end than a similar style in fabric. 

Benefits of Fabric Sofas

• Comfort – fabric sofas are more comfortable than leather sofas. Fabric is soft and tactile which gives it a warmer and softer feel than leather. Leather sofas can feel cold in the winter and sticky in the summer.
• Colour variety – fabric sofas are available in an unlimited selection of colour and pattern choices then leather sofas.
• Budget – the same style of fabric sofa is always cheaper than the leather option.

Both types of materials have their benefits and disadvantages. At the end of the day, you need to decide what is most important to you and what will fit best in your home.

If you still can’t decide, why not mix and match?! Many of our leading brands, including Parker Knoll and G Plan, offer both leather and fabric options within each collection.

We have a large selection of leather and fabric sofa collections in our showroom in Sidmouth. If you’re looking for a new sofa come and have a browse