The other half has just bought an handbag from a small shop near us for £59 and the woman told us it was leather and it had a tag on it in the shape of the leather thingy logo, but my wife is convinced its not leather,it as a smell like leather but this can be sprayed on ... how can you tell.

 

Fake leather usually has a woven backing, real leather looks like rough suede on it's unfinished face.

 

Because its an handbag its finished on both sides..sort of back to back material

 

On a discreet part of the "leather" hold a lighter flame on it.... if it melts its not leather!

 

On a discreet part of the "leather" hold a lighter flame on it.... if it melts you have a big hole in your handbag!

 

Paul...you may laugh but this is an age old way of testing whether something is infact genuine leather or not.
Yve

 

And if it's not leather you go back to the shop, demand a refund and threaten to shop them to trading standards under the sale of goods act.

 

"I cant refund that sir, its fit for purpose" "No its not there's a ruddy great hole in it where I tested to see if it was real leather or not"

 

Have a look along the edges where they meet, I realise they will probably have turned edges as they are finished both sides, but if you can get to a turn over you can lift a small section up to look at the underneath.

Dont be fooled by smell or grain, all that can be faked on synthetic leathers.

What makes you think it isnt leather?

 

If she's happy with it then what does it really matter? I'm sure she'll have forgotten in a week or two when this one is at the bottom of the draw with the other 20 and she has two new ones to carry.

 

So true and with the umpteen amount of shoes as well

 

Guy -

 

So what happens to leather if you hold a flame to it?

 

if its up to crib 5 specification it wont burn, if it isnt it will catch fire lol

 

Nothing should happen if it's good quality leather.
The way the stitching lies is also a giveaway but only apparent to practised eyes.
Yve

 

Just out of interest, how are you connected with the leather trade?

 

By thin leather straps

 

Ohh err!

 

take it to a field with cows and stand in the field. If you get a reaction then you know its real and you will need to mooooove fast

 

yup thats true, lighter on it & it shouldnt burn. Went to a leather making place in Italy and showed how they make it, test & prove it.
It helped seeing this as when i came back from i was approached by a dodgy geezer selling leather coats, was doing his best to blag it so i held a lighter to it, he pulled it away, jumped in his motor and sped off.

 

At only £59, I reckon it'll burn

 

Either that or he didnt want his coat marked by the flame lol.

Not all leathers are treated to crib 5 specs, so dont go wild with your lighters lol.

 

its the wife who thinks its not leather and i tried to explain that good honest shops dont try to get away with sort of thing now.Normally it would have a stamp somewhere saying Genuine Leather but this bag didnt it had a Tag fastened to the handle in the shape of the leather symbol but no writng anywhere..still a lot of money for a Roy Cropper PVC bag

 

Some of those tags in the shape of animal hides can have extra writing, if it has mentions of 'bonded' or 'ground' leather this is a man made product and cannot be sold as real leather.

In the grand scheme of things, there are loads of leathers out there that are so heavily corrected and treated that at the end of the day they dont look like leather. There are also, many great synthetic leathers which give the appearance and feel of leather - although this is hard to come across in the uk as it is mostly used in Italian / Spanish / Indian production facilities as this is where the bulk of the work goes to.

 

Leather ..how can you tell?

Check your local field for a rather cold looking cow!!

Ns04

 

Try stretching it. If it is pvc, there'll be a bit of give. If it's real leather you wont see any movement at all.
Somebody told me that when I was a kid, about 40 years ago, it really does work

 

Real leather doesn't lose it's smell for ages. I can tell that by my new boots. The fake stuff will lose it in a few days

 

Not the case anymore I'm affraid, depending on the leathers some are stretchy as you like.

 

Definitely use the lighter test.

Also leather doesn't mean better or more expensive - plenty of £1000 handbags made of plastic or canvas.

 

Not in our house there aren't