"Generally, products can be used as alternative of the natural leather. However, they can be used in the areas where natural leather is not applicable."
The Artificial Leather Sector is developing very fast in our country in recent years. Artificial Leather Products can be manufactured by making Polyurethane (PU), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) coverage implementation on the floors like fabric, non-woven, coagula etc. These artificial leather products can be used for upholstery, making clothes, making shoes and bags. The recent improvements in the artificial leather sector, parallel to the technological improvement, cause to have products which have features very similar to real leather.
Artificial Leather Sector generally can be classified as below;
- PVC covered Artificial Leather
- PU covered Artificial Leather
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Covered Artificial Leather
In the first era of the artificial leather industry, only PVC coverage has been made. There are many implementation areas for PVC covered artificial leather. They are cheaper than the other artificial leathers. They are used in many areas like, car upholstery, home and office upholstery, bag, shoes, slipper, coat, jacket, leather goods and accessories and etc.
Polyurethane (PU) Covered Artificial Leather
As result of improvements in production and raw material technologies, PU has been started to use in production of artificial leather in the last 10 years. They are more expensive than the PVC covered products. However, they are preferred because they are healthier, softer, more ecological and more breathable than the PVC covered. And also, from the perspective of technical and appearance they are more similar to real leather. They are preferred in areas like, home and office upholstery, coat, jacket, and shoes areas.
Maintenance and Cleaning of Artificial Leather
- Do not use bleach
- Do not use chemical solvents.(Gasoline, fuel, diesel oil, thinner, acetone)
- Dry cleaning cannot be done. Not to impose on direct sunlight or spot light and to hold them away from heat sources are advised.
- It can only be cleaned by fabric with soap. It must not be cleaned with liquids which contain alcohol like cleaning detergents, cologne and etc.