New couch buyers, that's what! 😆
My mother decided that she's had enough of the peeling leather between the seats on our leather couch. This is the... second (?) couch we've had where there's been an issue.
First couch was fake (aka bonded) leather, which lasted several years before it peeled apart. Purchasing what was supposed to be a high quality leather couch at a higher quality furniture store, turned out to be a rip off because they promised and guaranteed us that this couch would last and it was pure leather.
Only to have it start getting weird after a year.
Come to find out, through many a complaint, the couch was actually bonded leather, which means it's "manufactured upholstery material which contains animal hide. It is made as a layered structure of a fiber or paper backer covered with a layer of shredded leather fibers mixed with natural rubber or a polyurethane binder that is embossed with a leather-like texture" ("Bonded Leather" per Wikipedia)(~shudders. I hate Wikipedia).
According to The Leather Farm, bonded leather is "made from shredded leather scraps glued together with polyurethane or latex on a fabric base. The surface is then embossed to look like natural grain. [...] While it may appear convincing, it lacks the resilience of authentic leather. Bonded products tend to be cheaper, but they crack, peel, and deteriorate much faster. They’re common in budget furniture, office chairs, or entry-level accessories—items where cost takes priority over longevity."
The latter part of the second quote proves why our couch failed. The piece was falling apart.
Off we went, back to the store to see what could be done. We talked to sales people, management, whoever we could, to be able to get a conversation going as to why part of the staff insisted the couch was one thing and another part of the staff backpedaled saying they do in fact sell bonded pieces and this happened to be one of them.
Which brought us to our second couch. My mother wanted a new piece because she felt this wonderful couch we had, was becoming an eyesore. She felt duped and she wanted something to be done about it. Here, she told all her friends about the retailer in the beginning and how wonderful the sale went. Then the couch started failing and she felt bad for referring people to the store.
Although there was nothing major that could be done, the store (very nicely) offered a small discount off the purchase of a new couch.
My mother accepted that and grilled them about it.
The second couch was to be 100 per cent leather. She didn't want that bonded stuff. The company had to make sure we were purchasing a real leather couch. They assured her this next one would be, and there wouldn't be any problems. She felt that she trusted them enough, she bought a love seat to go with it.
Fast forward a few years later, and guess what? The couch is peeling. That's on top of the fact the USB port on one side had failed from the word go. Both ends of the couch had reclining capabilities as well as a USB charging station, where you could plug your device (phone) in and let the thing charge away. Her side charger didn't work after the couch was delivered. It wasn't tested when the delivery men dropped it off, so she couldn't have them bring it back to the warehouse or get it immediately fixed. As she thought this was a small issue, she never said anything; we had the ability to plug in her phone to the wall socket that the couch was plugged in to, so it wasn't a huge deal breaker.
What became of the couch, in the end, was the last straw.
The inside seams started peeling. Badly. It was so messy, that every time we used the reclining bit, more pieces were scraping off from the seat cushions. Upon contacting the store, they wanted us to come in. We took photos and went to talk to a manager. Once we arrived, we explained what was happening. The staff took one look and said "oh yeah, we know what that is".
What is it?
Vinyl and bonded leather in between the sections.
Yup. The couch is technically one hundred per cent real leather, but the places that attach together (seams, each seat on the inside, the leg base) is vinyl and bonded leather.
Why?
Because, in one respect, you don't look at the inside of the couch. Cheaper materials can be used to attach everything together, while the more expensive stuff is on the outside.
How come no one told us, especially when we were making it clear that we didn't want to get anything other than real leather?
They thought we knew. Does it really matter?
No, we didn't know and yes, it does matter. No one discussed with us, that whatever we buy, will have vinyl or bonded or other types of materials on the inside (seams) of the couch. When you make an expensive purchase like this, you want to be told what's involved. There was no mention in the fine print, there was no talk about things being not what they were.
To add insult to injury, when we finally started inquiring about it, we were just out of the window of warranty, so there was nothing the store could do about it. Plus, warranty didn't cover the insides where the peeling was happening. So we'd have to continue living with it or get a new couch then.
We opted to continue living with it, because overall, the couch was still okay on the outside. The seams were becoming a pain to deal with, but we would carry on and see what would happen.
Which brings us to Thanksgiving Day Sales 2025 at the furniture stores. My mother had had enough of constantly picking up chunks of peeled upholstery and opted to finally invest in something new.
This time it would be a fabric couch. We had a quality sleeper couch in our guest room for a few years and didn't have any problems with it. It was time to go back to that.
As we shopped around, we told various places our tale and each sales person we spoke to, seemed to understand our side and apologized for the misgivings and mistakes of the company we dealt with. Even though they had no business / dealings with that particular store.
Once we found something that would suit our living space quite well, my mother decided she'd buy the matching love seat to go with it. Now we need to find someone to take the leather couch and love seat off our hands, even though the love seat was in some what of a better condition (it was starting to fray, but it wasn't horrendous).
She contacted friends and neighbors to see if they know anyone, and ended up giving the love seat to a pool friend's daughter. The daughter just graduated medical school is working locally. She has recently started renting a house within our community with a couple of friends, so they are in need of furniture, and don't mind second hand pieces. If nothing completely matches, at least they have some where to sit until they fully decide what they want to do. After securing a time for the kids to pick up the love seat, the couch was discussed. They didn't have a need for it, and didn't know anyone else who would. It wasn't that they were not willing to take it, but they were getting things from other people as well. Too many big pieces in a small house is over kill and greedy.
Understandable.
We tried calling a local thrift store, which every single furniture store recommended. It was the number one thrift place in the area and we were told the couch would be accepted, regardless of it peeling. This particular thrift, if they couldn't sell it, would donate it to a shelter (or halfway house).
Great! That's such awesome news to hear.
Well, with high hopes, we set up a date and time for the thrift store to pick up the couch. They came, they saw, they denied wanting it. It was too far gone in the seams to sell. They can't take it.
What about giving it to a shelter?
They don't know anything about that. Whoever told us, doesn't know what they're talking about.
What this place can do, is put it on the curb for trash pick up because they can't even take it to the dump. It costs them over a hundred dollars to drop stuff off at the landfill and they aren't willing to do that.
As this was Monday, my mom was not willing to let the couch sit outside until this morning. We'd get ticketed by the community for that.
We thanked the thrift store guys for coming out and were saddened to hear they are limited in what they do. We weren't lied to, necessarily, but we weren't told an exact truth, apparently.
Since the new couch was going to come Friday (yesterday), we would have to wait a few more days with this old one.
Which we did.
The unfortunate side effect now to this experience, is the delivery guys said they can't touch the old couch. This was even when we were told they could, if the thrift store didn't take it. This is becoming a fiasco. An entire crazy circle of information, in order to enjoy seating in the living room.
Once the old couch was taken outside and the new couch brought in, it was time to do some re-arranging in order to now wait the week out for the love seat because they didn't arrive together. The love seat is on back order.
Okay, fine. We can live another week without the second piece of furniture. I keep telling my mother maybe we need to get one of those blanket covers for the couch so it's not ruined so quickly. That the nice beige doesn't show dirt and grime and so forth before the end of 2026. We have a decent warranty with this new couch, but we don't need it going to hell soon. It needs to last a while, and if the fabric quits on us, then what?
It'll be time to move, because Florida ruins everything. That's what.
Considering the years we've lived on the old leather, there are some stains happening with it. Rubbing of clothing, human oils (sweat), etc. We weren't shy about using this as the main sitting area. It was lived on.
Proof in point - this is a picture of it outside in the sun:
Shadows and various points in the day and all.
No editing has been done to the photos. There is not mold on the legs. I promise you that. It's several years worth of being used as an every day piece of furniture. Heat, humidity, cold, sweating, non sweating, lotions.. just plain old hanging out and enjoying life.
The thrift store's point of this being destroyed wasn't the way the seats look. They immediately went to the in-between sections and saw the peeling. They raised the legs of the recliners. They saw how bad it was. That's why they wouldn't take it; it wouldn't sell.
Even at night, the couch looked sad.
The shadows made it look weird and creepy. Like it belongs on an abandoned property, waiting for a horror movie to happen.
Or, it belongs on the front yard of a local home where no one cares what their property looks like because everyone has similar lawn decorations around.
Either way, it was picked up this morning and my mom was super glad. She's in love with the new piece and is relieved to be done with all sorts of leather.
I'm honestly surprised no one was riding the community with a pickup truck and took it, as we are so used to that happening up north. Maybe because we're currently in a gated community, so you can't get in unless you're visiting someone. Maybe because no one really wants a big couch at the moment. I don't know. But knowing we didn't have lookie loo people around, is quite surprising. Guess that's the big difference in where we were and where we are.
Until the love seat comes in and completes the room, make sure you take care of yourself and research what you're buying. Don't regret your purchase, even years later. Make the best of it while you can and if you could donate to charity, do so. We don't need more trash in our landfills right now. Recycle when possible.
Cheers;
See also
* "Blanket for couch protection" via Amazon
