Blog, Buying Guides
Fabric vs Leather: A Genuine Guide for Irish Homes
It is the question we are asked more than any other, and most of the answers online are useless because they are written by people trying to sell you one or the other.
We sell both. We have no stake in which one you pick. So here is the honest version, written for houses in Mayo and Clare rather than showrooms in California.
The short answer
If you want the two-sentence version: fabric is warmer, softer and offers far more choice, but it can hold smells and needs the right treatment if you have kids or pets. Leather is tougher, wipes clean in seconds, and ages beautifully, but it is colder to sit on, noisier and sometimes limited in colour.
Everything below is detail on top of that.
Fabric vs Leather: At a Glance
| Fabric | Leather | |
|---|---|---|
| Warmth | Warmer and cosier from the first sit | Cooler to sit on initially, especially in colder rooms |
| Colour choice | ★Excellent. Huge range of colours, patterns and textures | Good, but usually a more limited range of colours |
| Cleaning | Can require more care, and spills need treating quickly. Aquaclean treated fabrics change this, as most stains come out with water alone | ★Easy. Most everyday spills can simply be wiped away |
| Claws & pets | Depends heavily on the fabric. Some weaves cope better than others | Tough surface, but sharp claws can scratch or puncture it |
| Smells | Can absorb and retain household and pet smells | Much less likely to absorb smells, and easier to wipe clean |
| Cost | Available across a wide range of prices | Generally more expensive, particularly for quality leather |
| Lifespan | Can last many years with the right care and fabric choice | ★Excellent. Quality leather can last for decades and develop character with age |
| Best for | Comfort, colour choice, families wanting a softer feel, and those who like to change their look | Easy cleaning, durability, busy households and a timeless look |
What fabric does well
It is warmer to sit on. This matters more here than people expect. A leather sofa in an unheated sitting room in February is genuinely cold for the first few minutes. Fabric never is.
The choice is enourmous. Hundreds of colours and weaves, versus perhaps 2 dozen realistic leather options. If you have a colour scheme in mind, it will be much easier to find a fabric colour-match.
It is softer and quieter. No creaking, no sliding around, no sticking to the back of your legs in July.
It costs less, usually. Like for like, a fabric version of the same sofa is typically the cheaper option, though a high-end fabric can overtake a mid-range leather.
What leather does well
It wipes clean. Not “can be cleaned with the right products and some patience”. Wipes clean, with a cloth, in about 4 seconds. If you have a toddler, this is not a small factor.
It lasts. A good leather sofa will outlive a fabric one, often by years. It also improves as it goes, developing a patina that fabric simply does not have an equivalent of.
It does not hold smells. Fabric absorbs cooking, smoke and dog. Leather doesn’t.
It suits solid fuel homes. If you have an open fire or a stove, fabric will gradually take on that smell. Leather shrugs it off.
The Irish climate question
Two things get asked constantly in the showroom, and both deserve a straight answer.
Does leather crack in a damp house? Not from damp, no. Leather suffers from dryness rather than moisture, and the biggest culprit in most Irish sitting rooms is heat: a sofa parked directly in front of a radiator or stove will dry out in that one concentrated spot. Keep a bit of a distance.
That said, conditioning still matters, and we would tell every leather customer the same thing. Emmet in our Castlebar showroom says it best: leather is skin, and it behaves like skin. You moisturise it to keep it soft and supple, and if you never do, it dries out and cracks.
Central heating dries out a room far more than people realise. A conditioned hide stays supple and lasts years longer than one that is never touched. and it takes ten minutes a couple of times a year. Ask us for the right product when you are buying, because the wrong one can do more harm than doing nothing at all.
Looking after leather
Leather is skin. Treat it like skin.
- Keep it away from direct heat. A radiator or stove right beside the sofa will dry out that one spot faster than anything else in the room.
- Dust it every week or two. A dry cloth is enough. Grit is what wears a surface down over time.
- Condition it twice a year. Ten minutes each time. It keeps the hide supple and is the single best thing you can do for its lifespan.
- Wipe spills straight away with a barely damp cloth, then dry it off. Most things lift with no fuss at all.
Ask us which conditioner suits your sofa before you buy one. The wrong product can do more harm than doing nothing at all.
Does fabric go musty?
Only in a room that is genuinely damp, and if a room is damp enough to affect a sofa you have a bigger problem than upholstery, In a normally heated, normally ventilated house, no.
The real climate point is simpler and nobody mentions it: we spend a lot of the year indoors, sitting down, with the heating on. Comfort matters more in Ireland than it does in warmer countries, becuase you are on that sofa for a great deal of the winter. That is an argument for fabric.
Kids, dogs and spilled tea.
Here is where most guides get vague. Specifics:
Toddlers: Leather, or a treated fabric. Untreated fabric and a small child is a combination you will regret at some point, usually involving blackcurrant.
Dogs: It depends entirely on the dog. Claws are the issue, not hair, and leather scratches where fabric snags. A heavy, tight-weave fabric is more forgiving of claws than leather is. But leather deals with the hair and the smells far better. If your dog is currently allowed up on the sofa, be honest with yourself about that when you choose.
Cats: Neither, honestly. If your cat scratches furniture, no upholstery survives it. Tight weaves are marginally better than loose ones because there is less to hook a claw into.
Tea, wine and the general chaos of a family evening: This is what treated fabrics were invented for, which brings us to the part worth knowing about.
AquaClean: the thing that changed the argument
For a long time the fabric-versus-leather debate had a simple answer for anyone with young children: get leather. Treated fabrics have narrowed that gap considerably.
Aquaclean is the one we see most, and unlike a lot of fabric treatments it is not sprayed on afterwards. Every individual fibre is coated during manufacturing with a molecular layer that stops dirt penetrating, which means the protection does not wear off the way a topical treatment does.
The practical version: nearly all household stains come out with water alone. No detergents, no specialist products. Wine, coffee, sauce, chocolate, ink, mud. Blot the excess, dampen the mark, rub gently in circles with a damp cloth.
Two things worth knowing that the marketing does not lead with. Use filtered or bottled water if your area has hard water, becuase limescale can leave its own mark. And for something dried in and stubborn, a very dilute neutral soap solution is allowed before you resort to anything else.
The Aquaclean fabrics also carry Safe Front treatment, which works great against the build up of bacteria and dust mites, and helps with odours. That partially addresses fabric’s traditional weakness. It does not eliminate it, but it helps.
What it costs, honestly
Fabric is generally the cheaper entry point and the more expensive ceiling. You can spend very little or a great deal.
Leather has a higher floor. And it is worth knowing why before you compare prices between shops. The phrase “leather sofa” covers a lot of ground in this trade. Elsewhere it can mean hide on the parts you touch and something else entirely on the sides and back, or a leather-look material throughout. This is how some very low prices are reached.
Every leather sofa we sell is genuine leather right through, so when you compare our price against a cheaper one somewhere else, make sure you are comparing the same thing. Ask the question in any shop you visit, ours included.
A fair way to think about it: leather costs more up front and less over time. Fabric costs less up front and may need replacing sooner, unless it is treated and looked after.
What we would actually ask you
If you came in to Castlebar or Ennis and asked us this question, we would probably ask you four things back:
- What have you got at the moment? Fabric or leather, and what has annoyed you about it?
- Who will be sitting on it? Adults only, or children, or a dog that who believes the sofa is his.
- Is there an open fire or stove in the room?
- Is it the room you live in, or the good room?
So, Which One?
Choose Fabric If
- You want a warmer, softer seat
- You are matching a colour scheme
- The room is cool in winter
- You like changing your look over the years
- You want the widest possible choice
Choose Leather If
- There are young children in the house
- You have an open fire or a stove
- Someone in the house is allergic or asthmatic
- You want it to last decades
- You would rather wipe than treat
Ticks on both sides? That is normal. Come and sit on both in Castlebar or Ennis.
Those four answers usually settle it within a minute or two. There is no universally better material, only a better fit for your house and the way you live.
And if you are still torn, sit on both. Ten minutes in the showroom will tell you more than any guide, including this one. Most people know within seconds of sitting down which one feels like theirs, they just do not trust it until someone gives them permission.
Questions We Get Asked
Not including Aquaclean, are certain fabrics easier to clean than others?
Yes. As a rule, the higher the polyester content, the easier a fabric is to clean. Polyester fibres do not absorb liquid the way natural fibres do, so spills tend to sit on the surface long enough to be lifted rather than soaking straight in, and they respond well to most upholstery cleaning products. Linens, cottons and viscose blends are lovely to sit on but far less forgiving. Whatever you buy, check the cleaning code on the label first and follow it.
Can I order extra fabric or leather to reupholster an old chair?
Yes, and it is one of our favourite requests. Plenty of people have a chair from a grandparent or a piece they simply cannot part with, and matching it to a new suite is a lovely way to keep it in the room rather than in the shed.
One practical note: order the extra material at the same time as the sofa. Dye lots vary slightly between production runs, so fabric ordered a year later may not be an exact match.
Will a throw protect my sofa?
It genuinely helps, particularly on the arms and headrests where hair products and hands do the most damage over the years. It is also the easiest way to protect a sofa from a dog without banning the dog. The one thing to watch is that a throw left in place permanently on one section can lead to slightly uneven fading, so move it about now and again.
Does leather get cold in an unheated room?
Yes, for the first minute or two, and there is no way around it. Leather takes on the temperature of the room and then warms to your body heat. If your sitting room is cold when you walk into it, this is worth thinking about honestly, because it is the single most common regret we hear from people who chose leather purely on practicality.
How long will my sofa take to arrive?
Most of what we sell is made to order in your choice of fabric or leather, which takes around 8 to 12 weeks. We also carry stock lines that are available much sooner. If you have a deadline, a family occasion or Christmas, tell us at the start and we will point you towards what will actually arrive in time.
Is all your leather real leather?
Yes. Every leather sofa we sell is genuine leather throughout, including the sides and the back. It is worth asking this question in any shop you visit, because the phrase “leather sofa” is used loosely in this trade and it is often how a much lower price is reached.
Will my sofa fade in the sun?
Any upholstery will fade in strong direct sunlight over time, fabric and leather alike, and darker colours show it more obviously than lighter ones. If your sofa sits in a bay window or a south-facing room, it is worth factoring in when choosing a colour, and rotating the seat cushions occasionally will keep the fading even rather than patchy.
Can leather be repaired if it gets scratched?
Light surface scratches on many leathers can be worked out with a clean finger and the warmth of your hand, because the natural oils in the hide help the mark settle back. Deeper scratches and cuts are a different matter and need a professional repair. Some leather finishes mark far more easily than others, so if you have a dog or young children, ask us which finish you are looking at before you buy.
What is the difference between the cushion fillings?
Foam holds its shape and stays neat with almost no effort. Fibre and feather are softer and more relaxed to sit in, but they need plucking and turning regularly or they look tired quickly. Neither is better. It comes down to whether you want a sofa that looks tidy by itself or one that feels like it gives when you sit down.
McDermott’s Furniture & Interiors · Family Run Since 1964
Sit On Both Before You Decide
Worth knowing: nearly every leather sofa we sell can also be made in fabric, but it does not work the other way around. So if leather is even a maybe for you, start with the leather range. Hundreds of fabric samples to take home, delivery and assembly included, and the coffee in-store is free.
Castlebar: 094 90 22500 ·
Ennis: 065 68 66233 ·
sales@mcdermotts.ie
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