# Leather or Fabric Couches?



## Amberbark (Oct 5, 2011)

My husband and I are trying to agree on furniture. Do you prefer leather or fabric? and why, if you would please? Vicki, Amber, and Piper :wavey:


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

Leather all the way. I hate, hate, hate vacuuming fur off of couches. Even if you don't allow your dogs on the furniture, the fur still collects. We were vacuuming couches once a week, and now we just brush it off. Huge time saver!


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

We have had leather couches for almost 15 years and they look almost new (well, except for the scratches up the back of one sofa--from when the cat would go into his crazed sliding runs up and over the brand new sofa...). No dirt sticks to them and hair sweeps right off
But, DO NOT get the "pretend" leather look vinyl couch. We are renting a house right now with them and while they look fine, for some reason Brooks' shed fur "sticks" by static Pelectricity to the sofa and is almost impossible to get off.
PS In another room I have some solid colored, cotton courduroy sofas and they grab Brooks' fur but it isn't too hard to rub or vacuum off-though he doesn't go in there much. I also have a smooth cotton sofa that Brooks lies on and it doesn't show any fur. If you go with fabric, choose a smooth cotton fabric and a print so it won't hold onto the hair and won't show the dirt. I think synthetic fibers create static electricity and it would be hard to get the fur off.


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## nolefan (Nov 6, 2009)

Well, here's the thing, I PREFER leather but alas, my budget does not support my taste in high quality leather sectionals, therefore I own a lovely linen-look sunbrella covered sectional with zip off washable cushion covers. So far so good  It's held up for a year now....


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

nolefan said:


> Well, here's the thing, I PREFER leather but alas, my budget does not support my taste in high quality leather sectionals /QUOTE]
> 
> ^ Neither does mine, but thanks to Craigslist, I found a Restoration Hardware couch and chair. We've had them for almost two years and LOVE them! I make home decorating decisions based on my dog. Next will be blonde-colored oak floors and we'll be all set


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## Brave (Oct 26, 2012)

Fabric. I don't like sticking to furniture.  


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## BriGuy (Aug 31, 2010)

Leather, but remember that leather quality varies considerably, so shop somewhere you can trust.


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## T&G (Feb 28, 2013)

We have leather couches, and LOVE them  No vacuuming! And if you get puppy slobber on it from them trying to share a toy with you, it wipes right off and no "dried slime" residue left on the couch! 


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## BriGuy (Aug 31, 2010)

Leather for us has been more kid-proof and dog-proof than the fabric couch we used to have. It cost more up front, but we should get many more years out of it.


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## BajaOklahoma (Sep 27, 2009)

We have a fabric sofa, which we vacuum weekly.
We have a navy leather sofa that hasn't held up to the cats very well. The dogs avoid it.
And we have a white leather sofa that the dogs love and it is holding up very well. It's a soft, Italian leather and we don't stick to it all - and we have it at the lake house. Love it.


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## Dexter12 (Feb 10, 2012)

Fabric sofa, but it is annoying to clean. I vaccum, then baby wipe the surfaces and then spray it with fabric deodorizer. If I don't my sofa looks and smells like one big dog bed.


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## gmammad (May 31, 2013)

Leather, but spend the extra to get good leather, our first leather couch lasted 22 years and two goldens, we pretty much got rid of it because we wanted a different color! Hopefully the new leather furniture will last as long as the first one. Cleans up easy, doesn't hold that "wet dog" smell either! Good luck with ever one you chose to go with! When we decided to get new couches we decided to get microfiber, well that lasted two years before we both hated it, gave it away and went back to leather.


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

Leather, but fabric sofa covers on the bottom to prevent scratches from doggie nesting clawing and from launching off of them during zoomies.


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## MarleyMay (May 18, 2013)

We have a set of microfiber couches and a set of leather. I LOVE our microfiber as far as comfort, but as was mentioned, dried toy slobber is kind of a pain. The hair doesn't seem to stick though, which is nice.
The leather is much easier to clean though, so if I had to get new couches, I would probably go with a nice set of those.


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## Wyatt's mommy (Feb 25, 2011)

We have both but I love my leather sectional. It is a good quality leather, and feels almost like fabric.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Do people actually like sitting on leather couches?  

I'm currently curled up on a fabric couch which is the exact same color as the dogs (fixes the dog hair problem).


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

We switched to leather, and I will never go back to fabric.


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## gmammad (May 31, 2013)

I love to sit in/on the leather, it just molds around you body and sucks the life out of you! When we purchased new carpet we brought the samples home to compare them to our dog!


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Even though the dog isn't on the furniture, we prefer leather. The dog hair from Hank walking by, rubbing passing by or floating doesn't stick to it. Slobber and dirt wipe right off.


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## murphy1 (Jun 21, 2012)

Leather.......ours has been thru a golden, dogue de bordeaux and now another golden. By a heavy leather.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

I actually prefer fabric. I like the feel of fabric better than leather.
I would think fabric is easier to clean, but then again, I have not had leather in 30 years. Back then it was a pain in the b... and it would tear with doggy toe nails on it or sharp puppy teeth of my first golden and trying to repair it was even worse. I also don't like cold leather in the winter and in the summer the tendency to get stuck to it.


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## Jessie'sGirl (Aug 30, 2010)

I like the coziness of fabric. Jess doesn't bother our furniture, he is free to sleep on the couch but usually prefers to be by my feet. The cats, however, clawed one corner of our couch when we first got it. We recently rearranged our living room, the clawed corner is out of sight, problem solved.


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## Wyatt's mommy (Feb 25, 2011)

Megora said:


> Do people actually like sitting on leather couches?


A good quality leather can be soft as fabric. Ours doesn't make you sweat and it's not cold in the winter. All leather is not created equal. And dog or cat hair doesn't stick to it.


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## Amberbark (Oct 5, 2011)

Dallas Gold said:


> Leather, but fabric sofa covers on the bottom to prevent scratches from doggie nesting clawing and from launching off of them during zoomies.


Dallas Gold, how do you use the fabric sofa covers on the bottom? Amber does this weird thing where she lies down, pushes herself along between the couch and coffeetable and jets out into the living room. Never seen anything like it.....If we get rid of the coffeetable, it may not be a problem....:bowl::bowl:. One of those behaviors that was a lot cuter in a 12 lb. puppy than a 75 lb. 2 year old. Thank you. Vicki and Amber


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## darcylee (Jun 28, 2013)

I've had both, and prefer leather. The leather on the couches we have is a softer more supple leather. And it's not stretched tightly either, so it has some give. I've seen harder cushions with harder leather, and they are just not to my taste. We are currently having 100+ or upper 90s days, but I haven't noticed that I stick to the furniture. When it was winter, it was very cozy to curl up on too. 

Now that we have a puppy, I'm really loving the leather and how easy it is to keep clean. Maximus doesn't leave half of him behind when he jumps off the couch.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

cgriffin said:


> I actually prefer fabric. I like the feel of fabric better than leather.
> I would think fabric is easier to clean, but then again, I have not had leather in 30 years. Back then it was a pain in the b... and it would tear with doggy toe nails on it or sharp puppy teeth of my first golden and trying to repair it was even worse. I also don't like cold leather in the winter and in the summer the tendency to get stuck to it.


I don't know about tearing because of toenails or teeth, but I was thinking RUB SPOTS from people sitting on the furniture. :uhoh: And I was thinking sticky and cold too! 

One of my girlfriends from way back had a leather couch. It was expensive and she was really proud of it. She had a LEATHER couch. 

All I could think of was it SMELLED like a stable (that's what leather smells like to me, it's not a bad smell necessarily, but that always went through my head) and made weird noises when people shifted position. :


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

Leather, only....our big male has a problem with drooling, if he comes up and lays his face on the chair to get a scratch...he leaves a big blob! Yech! Ya Gotta Love Em! 

Leather is easy to wipe off....not to mention the hair....


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## LIDDLEMAR (Aug 3, 2013)

We have leather I don't think fabric ones would have survived Brooklyn's teething phase


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## Amberbark (Oct 5, 2011)

*Leather?*

So we went to look at leather couches. We like them and so asked if they have a warranty to purchase. Yes, $199 for 5 years against cuts, tears, or rips. No warranty against damage from dogs/cats/pets. Amber is not allowed on the furniture, but my 7.5 lb. Papillon. Basically, it was the only place that Piper could get up and away when Amber was a puppy. Can you tell me if your dogs nails scratch or puncture the leather? Thanks again. :wavey: Vicki


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

Based on all the info I got from here , I recently purchased my first leather couch. It's quite wonderful. I found a three cushion couch with two recliners... It's beautiful and my DD and I love to watch tv on it. The dogs aren't allowed up on it (well, sometimes, but only by invitation), but only because we decided we didn't want them on it on a routine basis, not because of concerns they'd damage it. I wipe it down with a damp cloth once a week, and plan to buy a good conditioner to use every six months.


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

Amberbark said:


> So we went to look at leather couches. We like them and so asked if they have a warranty to purchase. Yes, $199 for 5 years against cuts, tears, or rips. No warranty against damage from dogs/cats/pets. Amber is not allowed on the furniture, but my 7.5 lb. Papillon. Basically, it was the only place that Piper could get up and away when Amber was a puppy. Can you tell me if your dogs nails scratch or puncture the leather? Thanks again. :wavey: Vicki


I haven't had any problem. My little Tess is allowed up on the couch (also to get away from large bounding zooming GRs ). And the big dogs make it up here on occasion. The only time I got worried was when I was laying down and realized my jean shorts had large metal buttons on the back pockets...but even those didn't leave marks. The best advice I found on here was to go for split cowhide, medium grade leather. Not the very delicate, buttery soft leather and not the cheapest. we've been very happy. The dogs slobber on it and we wipe and there are no stains.


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## EvaDog (Jun 16, 2013)

We are leather all the way. I love that fact that I can simply wipe off any mess from my pets or my son. Our cat also will not scratch the leather for some reason, which is ideal. Our golden is not allowed up on furniture, but I can only image how much hair would stick to a fabric couch just by having her run up against it. :yuck: Leather is perfect for our family.


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

I would think those rock hard stretched tight type leather sofas might show scratch marks (and they don't look very comfortable either) but as I have never owned that kind I can't say for sure. 
To find out if a leather sofa gets scratch marks easily, I would think the ones on display would show you. 
I remember there was one leather sofa I really loved to go sit on when we were shopping. It had a nap to the leather and oh how wonderfully soft it felt. But my husband pointed out how the leather had so many scratch marks just from customers sitting on and touching it that we decided we couldn't get it.


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

*Being made a liar by my own dogs...*

Well as soon as I posted about how the big dogs are only allowed on the couch by invitation, they both started jumping up next to me. :doh: I think they're still settling in from our time away from each other due to vacation. Either that or they can read what I type!


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

I bought my leather furniture about 6 or 7 years ago. All of the dogs are allowed on it. The salesman was very helpful and showed me the different grades of leather they had. The really cheap stuff was uncomfortable and he did not think it would hold up well. Interestingly enough, he also advised against the really expensive, really soft, really comfortable and thin leather sofas that I initially liked. He felt those would tear too easily with dog nails. He advised, and I bought, a middle of the road leather sofa (Ashley furniture) and I love it! No puncture marks, tears or rips but the Chinese Crested of all of the dogs has done some damage by digging constantly in the same spot on the sofa  I don't think anyone but me ever notices though.


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## murphy1 (Jun 21, 2012)

Murphy sleeps on the leather all the time. The true test was when I had a dogue de bordeaux. He had nails that were so strong and thick (like a bear with those enormous paws) but never damaged the leather at all.


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## Amberbark (Oct 5, 2011)

OutWest said:


> Based on all the info I got from here , I recently purchased my first leather couch. It's quite wonderful. I found a three cushion couch with two recliners... It's beautiful and my DD and I love to watch tv on it. The dogs aren't allowed up on it (well, sometimes, but only by invitation), but only because we decided we didn't want them on it on a routine basis, not because of concerns they'd damage it. I wipe it down with a damp cloth once a week, and plan to buy a good conditioner to use every six months.


@Outwest....uh huh.... My hubby is eye-balling the couch with recliners at each end.....:doh:. I think that the leather will be fine. If he is worried, we can cover it, I guess, but that might be hard with recliners. Ah,the drama.....


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## Amberbark (Oct 5, 2011)

*Thank You!!*

Thank you all for your detailed responses! I think that we will go ahead with the leather couches. I really don't want to have to cover them. The only real concern will be to ensure that my Papillon doesn't fall behind the couch with recliners that will be pulled out from the wall. I will see if we can get them around the Labor Day weekend sale.  Vicki


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## evarr (Jun 10, 2014)

I like leather sofas more because it has better looks and are easy to maintain. But low side is that good quality leather is expensive and there are lot of bad quality leather sofas misleading the customers. For people with tight budget, i will recommend go for fabric sofas. They are good but not as good as high quality leather. If budget is not a constraint, leather sofas are the way to go. They are so good looking and low maintenance. Whether it is leather or fabric sofas, you must make sure of the quality. When you find leather sofas with low costs, you should beware of the low quality fake leather.


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