What Is Leather Gel?

"Leather gel" has two meanings. On sofas and chairs it is a leather-look upholstery fabric with a polyurethane surface, not a whole hide. In leather care and leathercraft, a leather gel is a product: a repair gel that fills cracks, or a gel stain that darkens tooled leather.

This definition is part of our guide to leather types, textures and finishes.

Leather gel on furniture

One maker, King Textiles, launched an upholstery fabric called Leather Gel in 2014. Sources do not agree on what goes into it:

All three agree on one point: the surface you sit on is polyurethane, not a tanned hide. No source read for this page gives a leather percentage for gel upholstery.

Is gel leather real leather?

Not in the sense of a hide. Under European definitions, leather broken into fibres or powder and re-formed into sheets is not leather. US guides say bonded or reconstituted leather should not be called leather, and should state its percentage of leather fibres if those words are used.

Furniture makers have sold scrap-based materials under several names. A 2007 report found one maker's bonded leather held 10–17% leather. In 2010 Culp sold a scrap-backed polyurethane material as fabric rather than bonded leather. For the close relatives, see what bonded leather is and what bicast leather is.

How long does it last?

That depends mostly on the polyurethane layer. The engineering explainer says the coating can peel or flake, and that sunlight and heat from radiators or vents shorten its life. A restoration-product maker says polyurethane-coated bicast, bonded and faux leathers are known for delaminating, and that repairs tend to fail the same way. Our page on whether polyurethane leather peels covers the signs.

Leather gel as a care or craft product

Shops also sell "leather gel" in bottles. Two common kinds:

• Repair or filler gel: fills cracks and deep scratches; colored gels change the look and may not match.
• Gel antique (leathercraft): a thick, water-based gel for vegetable-tanned tooling leather that settles into carved and stamped lines to add contrast. You apply it with a soft cloth in small circles.

For what a conditioner does, see what leather conditioner does.

Leathercrafter Tony Allen Bernier antiques a tooled, sealed project with a gel antique, then wipes the surface so the color stays in the carved lines. He brushes it on and lifts the excess with paper towels, rather than rubbing it in with a soft cloth in small circles as described above, so follow the directions on the product you use.

Where to see hide leather named

The Leather Collection catalog has no gel leather, sofas or care gels. If you want a piece where the hide is named, the Leather Collection men's leather jackets are hand-stitched in cowhide, sheepskin, lambskin or goatskin.

FAQ

What kind of stain do you use on leather?

For tooled vegetable-tanned leather, one option is a gel antique. You rub it in with a soft cloth until the color is even, and it settles into the carved lines.

What causes fake leather to peel?

Polyurethane-coated materials delaminate: the top layer separates and flakes. The industry calls this hydrolysis-related failure.