Real leather made from animal hides does not lose thin patches of leather.

You have “bonded leather,” a horrendous product with a synthetic polyurethane or vinyl facing “bonded” to a backing made of compressed “real” leather particles.

• The only real leather in this material is in the backing, which cannot be seen or touched. That is good news because it is unsightly and has a very rough texture.
• The backing is made from compressed leather particles. These are made from left over hide scraps which have been swept up from the floor, chopped into tiny particles, mixed with adhesives and rolled flat.
• This “leather”backing is then glued (bonded) to a facing material which may be made from polyurethane, vinyl or polyester faux leather.

Compressed leather particles are a terrible backing material.
There is only one reason for using compressed leather particles for a backing material – to fool uneducated consumers into thinking they are buying “real” leather furniture at reduced prices.

• When consumers do ask questions the salespeople are able to truthfully state that the material is 10% – 20% “real” leather. They almost never mention that all of this leather is in the backing which cannot be seen or touched.
• Most people who are shopping for furniture have an instinctive dislike for vinyls and other 100% synthetic materials that look and feel like leather
• A fabric that is described as partially real leather sounds superior to most consumers than a 100% synthetic faux leather. It isn’t.

You are actually lucky to have received 8 years of use before the bonded leather began peeling.
There are thousands of complaints (and dozens of lawsuits) from furniture customers whose bonded leather began peeling after only 1 – 3 years.

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