Did you ever spotted an amazing handbag on a store? You got closer, the design was great but you start having doubts. Is the bag made with real leather?
So how do you know if the bag in your hands is indeed a genuine leather bag, and not a close imitation? Here 5 tips to tell if a bag is made with real leather or not.
1 – See the bag up close
Check the label. If the label says pleather or rexine or synthetic you know this is not the perfect fit for you.
Judge by the price tag. If it is too cheap, it cannot be the genuine article. Real leather does not come cheap.
Take a close look at the geometric pebble-like surface pattern. Is it too uniform or is it random? As real leather is basically natural animal skin, it has minor imperfections. Real leather will have semi-random surface structure and unevenly spread pores like human skin. Fake leather lookalikes have evenly spread pores that just scream fake.
2 – Feel the bag.
Run your fingers over the bag’s surface. Fake leather is too artificially smooth. Real leather is always a little uneven, somewhat irregular yet pleasantly warm to touch, like skin.
Weigh the bag in your hand. Discounting buckles, zippers and studs, real leather is heavier than fake leather. A decent sized real leather bag will never be a feather weight.
3 – Smell the bag.
Pick up the bag and sniff it. Fake leather is made from synthetic material and has a smell reminiscent of glue or plastic. Real leather has a distinctive ‘leathery’ scent.
4 – Flame tests
As you can understand for obvious reason, we do not recommend that you conduct these tests to check a leather bag on a store.
If you hold a lighter flame close to real leather, it will resist burning up to a point. However if the flame is consistent, real leather will burn but without a flame and emit a flesh burning smell. On the other hand, fake leather will catch on fire in seconds. Smelling like burnt plastic.
5 – Buy the Bag from a certified seller.
It takes years of practice to tell real leather from fake. If in doubt, buy your real leather bag from certified sellers only. That’s your best bet to get a genuine real leather bag
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