Why is faux leather preferred over genuine leather for rails? (10 Viewers)

[JC117]

All or most rails I have seen (on PCF or elsewhere) use faux leather and I am not sure why. Is faux leather easier to clean? More durable? Is it the price? Why would you choose faux leather over genuine leather?

Thanks!

 

[Preditor]

I would say mostly a price issue, at least for me. The Barrington tables - which are super popular on here - are only $150 when on sale, and they're great quality per $ spent.

So I would rather spend money on nice chips than a leather table.

 

[mipevi]

Real leather preferred here.

 

[RagingAZN]

I also agree that it’s probably a price issue. I would also think that perhaps for the DIYers, using faux leather is easier than real leather? I’d guess that real leather is quite hard to stretch so probably a pain in the butt to work with.

Some of the more experienced table builders would have better insight than me though.

 

[4SUMERZ]

I would think that vinyl can be made more stretchable to make the contours easier to manage and staple.

 

[upNdown]

You’d need some big cows to get a sheet of leather big enough for long tables.
How big are cows anyway?

 

[Timmah]

There is a lot of waste when you get the rail material. For me, I purchased a 8’x4’ piece of vinyl and trimmed out the middle. That would be an expensive waste of leather.

 

[Rhodeman77]

I believe with real leather it is usually pieced together so there are 2 seams in the rail. So it may not be as visually appealing along with a much higher cost.

 

[T_Chan]

Likely price and ease of installation.

Decent quality vinyl is about $30/yard, so under $100 for a table. Depending on the leather, it can be 3x to 8x that price.

Leather is also quite a bit harder to work with than stretchy vinyl. And if you make a mistake with leather, that's quite costly whereas vinyl is more forgiving.

I can usually upholstery an 84x42 inch table with leather without any stitching, but any bigger than that and I have to stitch pieces together and I hate stitches. Just a personal preference though.

 

[greenchip]

Faux leather is much cheaper and lasts 1/3 than real leather.

Harder to clean, less durable, shorter product life.

Same for leather shoes. I don’t buy faux because they don’t last.

Also for public info, do NOT use hand sanitizer to faux leather, it will melt.

 

[JC117]

Real leather preferred here.

View attachment 1272612

Oh awesome! I just checked your photos and saw your table. Looks great! How large is it? Is the leather only 1 piece - i.e., no mid stitches? I also saw you have a table cover to transform it to a normal table. I'm thinking of doing the same...how heavy is your top?

 

[JC117]

Likely price and ease of installation.

Decent quality vinyl is about $30/yard, so under $100 for a table. Depending on the leather, it can be 3x to 8x that price.

Leather is also quite a bit harder to work with than stretchy vinyl. And if you make a mistake with leather, that's quite costly whereas vinyl is more forgiving.

I can usually upholstery an 84x42 inch table with leather without any stitching, but any bigger than that and I have to stitch pieces together and I hate stitches. Just a personal preference though.

It is definitely more expensive! For a 84x42 inch table, and assuming cost is not a problem, would you recommend upgrading from vinyl to leather?

 

[JC117]

Likely price and ease of installation.

Decent quality vinyl is about $30/yard, so under $100 for a table. Depending on the leather, it can be 3x to 8x that price.

Leather is also quite a bit harder to work with than stretchy vinyl. And if you make a mistake with leather, that's quite costly whereas vinyl is more forgiving.

I can usually upholstery an 84x42 inch table with leather without any stitching, but any bigger than that and I have to stitch pieces together and I hate stitches. Just a personal preference though.

Also, when you do a 84 x 42 in table, I assume you use a very large piece of leather and do a center cut out. What do you do with the rest? Thanks!

 

[mipevi]

Oh awesome! I just checked your photos and saw your table. Looks great! How large is it? Is the leather only 1 piece - i.e., no mid stitches? I also saw you have a table cover to transform it to a normal table. I'm thinking of doing the same...how heavy is your top?

My table is for eight players maximum, so smaller than standard at about 177cm x 98cm (or roughly 70 x 39 in inches). The ratio differs from the usual 2:1 because I wanted to make sure the playing area is wide enough.

The leather rail is from one piece, as you'd expect on a table this size. Very luxurious. I didn't build the table myself though, so the difficulty of working with leather vs. vinyl wasn't a factor for me.

My tabletop is made of two pieces for convenience, not sure how much they weigh but several kilos each. I will say that if you want yours to act as a really sturdy normal table, you need to figure out a way to properly support the cover. In my experience there will be compromises, so you should probably decide the primary use (poker table or normal table), then do the best you can for the other. Mine is a poker table first, so the covers have a bit of wobble even though they are resting mainly on the cup holders. If I was to go the other way, I'd either do a racetrack where the cover can rest, or even a center without any padding at all and have a removable felt/neoprene insert for playing poker.

 

[T_Chan]

Also, when you do a 84 x 42 in table, I assume you use a very large piece of leather and do a center cut out. What do you do with the rest? Thanks!

I end up with a large-ish leftover piece and add it to my box of leftovers. I'm at 5 boxes and counting... Yes, though it's harder to work with and costs more, it's worth the upgrade IMO.