Copious amounts of leather are often used in higher-end luxury cars, covering everything from the seats and the interior door pads to the steering wheel. Many people seem to forget that leather is a fine material that often needs a lot of upkeep, and even fewer remember that the type of treatment depends on the type of leather. Knowing which type of leather is used in your luxury car is important if you plan on taking proper care of it. For more on the subject, here’s a guide to the different types of automotive leather.
Aniline Leather
Aniline leather is rarely used in cars anymore, but it used to be much more common. Aniline leather is considered the finest leather available, as it uses the best animal hides and is incredibly soft and rich in color. As such, it doesn’t need any dyeing or conditioning, meaning the natural texture of the hide is more visible. As we said, this type of leather is rarely used in vehicles these days, but you might find it in a vintage luxury car.
Semi-Aniline Leather
Often referred to as finished leather, semi-aniline leather is used frequently for car upholstery. This type of leather has been colored with aniline dyes and then covered with a protective coating that makes the leather more resistant and its color more uniform. In general, this leather is more resistant to spills, scratches, and whatever else your seats might encounter.
Full-Grain Leather
This is the leather most often used in luxury vehicles. The texture is rarely corrected, meaning it retains the hide’s original markings. In general, this sort of leather is used for seating upholstery and dashboard coverings on nicer cars.
Corrected-Grain Leather
Corrected-grain is the least natural of the leathers, but it makes up for this by being the most resistant to wear. On average, it still feels nice and smooth, but you can feel a difference between this type and aniline leather. This type of leather may be used on the dashboards of cars, but it may also make up the upholstery on some lower-end cars.
Leather is an essential material in a luxury car. It completes the identity of refined art that the modern luxury automobile retains today. We hope this guide to the different types of automotive leather has helped you recognize the amount of artistry that goes into designing luxury car interiors.
