Leather has become an instant hit as a flooring product. The hides are carefully chosen and dyed and the process shows the real character of the leather. These are made into tiles that are 1/8″ thick and can be stamped with another texture as well. Not only is leather tough and beautiful it also retains warmth and deadens sound. Cleaning up is a breeze with a vacuum or slightly-damp mop. Imagine stepping on a floor with your bare feet and finding a surface that warms to body temperature in an instant. Yes, leather will scratch and show scrapes but, like a beautiful leather jacket, this will add character.
Recycled Leather
In the early days of car making Rolls Royce, Cadillac and other high-end cars sported leather seating. In fact that was one of the reasons people bought these expensive cars. However, these days every car manufacturing label, even the Korean cars, have the leather seat option. In fact even minivans and pickup trucks have this luxury. With the life of a vehicle judged as less than 10 years junked cars produce recyclable leather and plastics but have you ever wondered what happens to all this leather?
Recycled leather is fast-becoming a fashion statement in the flooring industry. When you think of all the leather sofas, jackets and automobile seats that get thrown out every year it makes sense for someone to reclaime these items and turn them into another product. However, the leather does not come back as a re-dyed or polished version of its old self. Instead it goes to a mill where it is ground up. This powder is then mixed with natural glues and rolled into a hard surface with tecturing that makes it look like a grain leather. From here it is made into planks or tiles with a natural backing like cork.
Whatever leather product you choose, tannery or recycled you will be on the cutting edge of flooring technology while using a renewable resource.
