The Upholstery Forum

I think this question deserves separate topic. To the pros outhere, how can you tell bad vs good automotive leather? Price is indication, but really, how can one tell? And how can you tell this is in fact automotive leather?

If you presented with samples, what you would be looking for? Or, if you say "This is bad material" - what do you mean?

To me there is only 3 parameters:
1. How it looks
2. How it feels to the touch
3. How long it lasts in auto environment (rubbing, sun, etc)

To upholsterer it's probably #4: How easy is it to work with?

So, look and feel aside, how to answer #3 and #4?

Good question!
In my opinion you cant tell. Leather can look and feel nice and fall apart in 1 year or last 15 years. That's why you should buy leather from a reputable supplier that you trust. Usually when it comes to supplies I don't bargain hunt. I buy what from people I trust. Supplies in an upholstery job are typically only %20 of the cost. The majority of the cost is in your time. Upholstery work is labor intensive. I never want to redo a job because I tried to save money on materials.

Thats what I thought! No matter how it looks/feels/smells - you can't tell really if they did everything correctly as far as treatment/etc..

Again, agree 100% when you do work for a customer. But when you just do it for fun and odds of screwing up really high...

@IvanD

You should go to a leather outlet and buy some automotive leather that is either cut offs or in the discount area. That is if there is a store near you. I have 02 Tandy leather stores I can go to in the big city and often they have auto leather 1/4s for sale at around $50.00

Will see. I got package frome Albright and funny thing that vinyl I got for practice is good color match and I like how it feels. Weird...

Vinyl is nice

Have to raise this question again.. Where to get nice leather?
I already got 2 test hydes from eBay and practice on it. But it feels somewhat stiff. I ordered samples from multiple places. Samples from $4-5 places feel stiff and definitely corrected gran, not top grain leathers. All of those fill be tough to stretch/lay correctly and I'm not sure about overall quality.

Samples I got from world upholstery @$9 german leather color code matched feel much softer even though little thicker(not as dense?). But they are like 2x2 inch, can't really get good feel on such a small piece. But they are #1 choice right now especially that they specialize in older foreign cars.

Got leather sample from Barbarossa leather. Feels REALLY good. Stretchy, soft. But then I inquired about price and application - she said it's upholstery but not sure if automotive (means NOT) and it's $12sqft

Any other reputable good quality leather suppliers?

I need just one hide, ready to pay full price. But need top quality color matched. I need just one hide.

@IvanD,

You should try Hydes

They only sell wholesale. I found one local distributor but they are classic car dealer. Sent inquiry but no response yet

@IvanD ,

Did you try Allbrights?

I got some samples from Moore & Giles https://www.mooreandgiles.com/shop/ and the leather was amazing. I haven"t ordered any yet because I wanted to learn to sew before I did. However, After the first of the year I am going to upgrade my machine and am planning on getting a hyde to do some seats for a CRX.

There color selection is good and they have all sorts of different leathers.

Look them up and get some samples from them.

Also, not to take away from @John but Cechflo has a video about determining good vs bad leather for automotive use.

@Cale
I did watch that video, good info but that’s not telling how long material will last.

Will try that place you mentioned for samples

@IvanD Try Relicate Leather https://relicate.com/ They are Hydes main competitor. Really nice stuff and looks like the sell retail.

Cale wrote: ↑Sat Dec 15, 2018 2:44 pm Also, not to take away from @John but Cechflo has a video about determining good vs bad leather for automotive use.

Thanks for the concern Cale but don't worry. This form is for the preservation and spread of all upholstery knowledge. Whether the information comes from The Lucky Needle or Cechaflo or somewhere else, you can share / post it here and I support it.