is vegan leather different from synthetic leather?
Synthetic leather is known by many names; artificial leather, faux leather, pleather, PU leather and vegan leather. Vegan leather is a marketing term used to refer to synthetic leather and is used interchangeably.
The two most common synthetic types of leather are polyurethane (PU) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). There are two types of PU leather; semi-synthetic and full-synthetic.
Semi-synthetic PU leather has an animal leather base with a dried PU plastic mixture on top. Full synthetic PU leather has a base fabric material such as polyester, cotton, nylon, or rayon with a plastic coating applied over a base fabric.
Full synthetic PU leather is marketed as vegan leather as there are no animal skins used. However, the environmental impact of PU leather is significant.
PVC is made from fossil fuels using large amounts of water and energy to produce. These materials undergo intensive chemical processing to add color, texture, and protective coatings so they can look and feel like leather.
PVC has extremely high levels of VOCs (volatile organic compounds). VOCs are often components of petroleum fuels, hydraulic fluids, paint thinners, and dry cleaning agents. VOCs are also used for the chemicals in the production of faux leather in solvents such as petrol, alcohol etc. People can have reactions to VOCs with symptoms of headaches, nausea, or fatigue.
Adding to the vegan leather market, are new, innovative bio-based leather alternatives that are made from plants, are animal-free and cruelty-free, and are more environmentally friendly. These materials are known as biomaterials.
