Leather is one of the most popular types of fabric which is used widely all around the world. However, the word ‘leather’ just widely classifies the fabric, that is to say, there are several different types of leather such as full-grain leather, top grain leather, split-grain leather, bonded leather, genuine leather, real leather, and more. Vegan leather and pleather are two more types of leather.
Vegan Leather vs Pleather
The main difference between vegan leather and leather is that vegan leather is an artificial substitute of leather that is made synthetically and does not include any animal skin in it. On the other hand, pleather is leather which is made from a combination of animal skin and a certain kind of plastic.
Vegan leather is also known as fake leather or faux leather. The reason is that vegan leather does not contain animal skin. By just observing, the vegan leather looks the same as real leather, however, its texture might differ from the real leather. Moreover, vegan leather is not as durable and tough as compared to real leather.
The word ‘pleather’ is made up of two different words, which are, ‘plastic’ and ‘leather’. As the words indicate, pleather is a type of leather that is a combination of leather and plastic. The two major components that are used in the manufacturing of pleather are animal skin, which is indicated by the word leather, and plastic.
Comparison Table Between Vegan Leather and Pleather
| Parameters of comparison | Vegan leather | Pleather |
| Type | Vegan leather is an artificial type of leather. | Pleather is not an artificial type of leather. |
| Also known as | Vegan leather is also known as faux leather. | Pleather is also known as plastic leather. |
| Animal skin | Vegan leather does not contain any animal skin. | Pleather includes animal leather. |
| Made up of | Vegan leather is made up of materials like cork and synthetic materials. | Pleather is made up of plastic. |
| Life expectancy | Vegan leather does not last for a longer duration of time as compared to pleather. | Pleather lasts for a longer duration of time as compared to vegan leather. |
What is Vegan Leather?
Leather is a very tough, durable, and long-lasting type of fabric that can be used for several different purposes. However, so many advantages of the fabric make it extremely costly and it does not become possible for every person to afford the leather. Thus, vegan leather comes as an affordable solution for people who want to buy leather but cannot afford the real one.
Apart from that, many protests and debates had been going on for years to not use leather because it consists of animal skin which is extracted by killing animals. Thousands of animals are killed every year to make leather. Thus, vegan leather is introduced as an eco-friendly solution to real leather. Vegan leather does not contain any sort of animal skin for its manufacture, instead, it is made purely out of chemical and synthetic material.
Since vegan leather does not contain animal skin, its manufacturing process becomes shorter, less labor is required in extracting animal skin and for further processes such as bleaching, tanning, and more. All these reasons consequently result in a lesser cost of vegan leather as compared to other types of leather which makes it an affordable option.
What is Pleather?
Pleather is a type of semi-leather, that is to say, it is not completely leather, or in other words, it can be said that pleather does not completely consist of animal skin. Instead, it also consists of another crucial component, which is plastic. Several different types of plastics can be used in the manufacturing of pleather. Depending upon what type of plastic is used in the manufacturing of pleather, it can be classified into several different types.
There are majorly two different types of plastics that are used in the manufacturing of pleather is polyvinyl chloride, which is also abbreviated as PVC, and polyurethane, which is abbreviated as PU. Generally, depending upon whether PVC is used in the pleather or PU, the composition of pleather, its toughness, its durability, its life expectancy, it’s cost and other such factors differ as well.
On comparing both PVC and PU based on which is more environment friendly, PU is considered to be better than PVC. Though pleather does consist of animal skin, it differs a lot from real leather. The weight of pleather is very light as compared to the weight of real leather.
Main Differences Between Vegan Leather and Pleather
Conclusion
Both vegan leather and pleather are quite similar to each other. Some people consider pleather as semi-real leather, on the other hand, others consider it as fake leather, just like vegan leather. Pleather is a type of leather that is categorized under vegan leather and is quite similar to it. However, they both have many differences.
One can easily identify vegan leather from pleather. That major difference can be identified through smell. Vegan leather smells like normal leather and has no peculiar smell. On the other hand, pleather has a very characteristic smell which makes it different from other types of leather. Some people recognize the peculiar smell of pleather as a fishy smell. The reason behind that is because of the plastic and other chemicals used in its manufacture.
References
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