Uptown Leathers award winning selection offers superior quality leather furniture at North Carolina discount pricing. Many leather sets offered elsewhere feature leather furniture made overseas, often constructed with plywood frames and elasticized fabric webbing as the suspension. At Uptown Leather 100% of our leather and slip cover products are "bench made" in North America, using "time honored techniques". Each product features steel springs and a hand made kiln dried hardwood frame. Many styles feature superior high density cushioning with "pocketed coil springs" imbedded in the foam and coil spring base construction. Down cushioning is available on many of our styles. At Uptown Leather you can shop with confidence, our leather and slipcover upholstery is made "the old fashioned way", and made to last with proper care. Our business is a family business which began over 50 years ago. Our commitment to our customers is to provide the highest quality products at the greatest possible value.

• Why Should I buy leather furniture online?
• Understanding Leather
• Best Leathers
• Leather Care
• Furniture Construction: behind the leather what you should know
• Leather Glossary from A-Z. Speak the lingo we explain all the terms you should know.

Visit our Showroom - Many online retailers do not have "Brick and Mortar" stores. Please call for directions to our showroom.

Value - We offer our customers one of the best furniture values in today's marketplace. If you do find an item for less please give us a call we can usually offer a better price. Top

B. Full grain hides, semi-aniline and pigmented have been aniline dyed and given a slight top coat of finish. They might also have some additional finish such as two-tone, semi-aniline or pigmented.

C. Pigmented/corrected hides are buffed and printed during finishing. Other variations on this leather are possible, like shaving, high gloss or two-toning. All of these are different applications before and after the finish is applied.

The deterioration of the hide begins the instant a cow is slaughtered. Before the tanning process starts, the hides are thoroughly soaked, then cleaned and dehaired. At this stage, the hides are sorted and categorized from ONE to SIX. ONE is the finest of the hides with not many imperfections. SIX is regarded as useless for leather upholstery.
The hides are then split in layers, the top called TOP GRAIN, the centre and bottom, SPLIT. Now the hides are ready for dying with aniline derivatives. The better the quality of aniline, the better the match to the top finish of the hide. Color will not be uniform on cheaper leathers. A light bottom and dark top means the leather was not dyed to shade. Top

Better hides are used for better leathers, the Lower quality hides are used for pigmented and Natural or naked aniline leathers.

Dust Regularly: Dusting at regular intervals assures that the furniture stays easy to clean.

Use a Damp Cloth Occasionally: A clean damp cloth or sponge may be used for soil not removed by dusting.

For Spots and Spills: Wipe up excessive liquid immediately with a clean cloth or sponge. If necessary use lukewarm water and let the leather air-dry.

For Stubborn Spots and Stains: Apply a mild non-detergent soap solution with a clean, wet sponge. Rinse well and let air dry.

For Butter, Oil or Grease: Wipe the leather with a clean dry cloth and allow the remainders of the oil dissipate into the leather. Do not apply water to try to wash a grease spot.

Leather is “Nature’s Fabric” and thus will have the following unique characteristics that are not defects but rather the beauty of leather. The following pictures illustrate….Differences in Tone, Healed Scars, Wrinkles, Differences in Grain, Stretch Marks and Veining.

Uptown Leather furniture will need very little maintenance. In fact, regular dusting and wiping is enough. It's a good idea to use a moist cloth occasionally. If leather becomes soiled with grease, beer, wine, coffee, clowns or other household hazards, wipe immediately using a sponge or chamois with lukewarm water and a small amount of mild soap. Rub lightly in a circular motion, then gently wipe dry with a cloth. To remove ballpoint pen marks, rub very lightly with a soft pencil eraser.Top

Furniture Construction: behind the leather what you should know
Upholstered furniture frames: A kiln-dried hardwood frame is a must in ensuring durability in your upholstery furniture. Oak, maple and ash are woods most commonly used in upholstered furniture. A good frame is joined using dowels as well as corner blocks glued and screwed together. The legs should be an integral part of the frame and center legs should be used for additional support.
Upholstered furniture springs: There are two primary spring systems used in constructing upholstered furniture: eight-way hand-tied and sinuous. Eight-way hand-tied springs are used in the base of better quality pieces of upholstered furniture and are often considered a sign of quality. These three dimensional coils are attached to webbing on the bottom of the sofa or chair and tied with twine at the top to each of the eight adjacent coils to prevent them from shifting. This system gives the upholstered furniture an even comfort level and has the advantage of never "bottoming-out" no matter how big the person is that sits on it.
Sinuous springs are two dimensional "S" shaped wires that are fastened to the top of the front rail and run from the front to the back of the furniture every few inches apart. This spring system offers a somewhat softer seat and can be used in upholstered furniture that sit lower to the ground as in many contemporary designs. While less costly to produce, it is not necessarily the sign of an inferior product. The quality and quantity of springs utilized is more an issue than which system is selected.
Upholstered furniture padding The way a frame is padded will affect not only its comfort, but also its durability. Prior to applying the fabric, it is important that the frame be padded so that at no point will the fabric be touching wood of the upholstered furniture. This will prevent untimely fabric wear and also add a subtle softness to the upholstered furniture. Cotton and polydacron are the most popular frame padding materials. Seat cushions are filled with one of the following combinations of materials:

High density polyurethane foam wrapped in Dacron is the most common (and least expensive) seat core in upholstered furniture. The density of foam and quantity of Dacron will determine the softness of the upholstered seat.

High density polyurethane foam wrapped in Dacron is the most common (and least expensive) seat core in upholstered furniture. The density of foam and quantity of Dacron will determine the softness of the upholstered seat.

Blendown cushions offer the softest seat, utilizing a combination of down and feathers sometimes wrapped around a foam core and then encased in a muslin bag. This cushion does not retain its shape without an occasional fluffing. Back cushions are primarily filled with Dacron fiber. Encasing the filling in a bag will help the cushions keep their proper shape. Occasionally, in better quality upholstered furniture, blendown is substituted for a more luxurious feel. Top

Leather Glossary

ANILINE: Aniline is the type of dye used to give the initial colour to a hide. Aniline means literally an absence of pigments, and may refer to the type of finish used on a hide.

BRANDS: A mark of a simple, easily recognized pattern made by burning the cattle’s skin with a hot iron. Used for identification purposes, brands are normally cut out of the hides and do not appear on finished furniture.

BUFFING: Hides are often buffed with a large sanding machine to minimize the appearance of gross surface imperfections such as wrinkles or healed scratches in the finished product. This process makes leather more uniform, but also obliterates the natural grain and markings that make each hide unique and naturally beautiful.

CORRECTED GRAIN: Outside skin sand-papered to minimize flaws, then pigmented and embossed.

EMBOSSING/PLATING: Embossing or plating is the process that creates a texture on leather by impressing it with a pattern.

FINISHING: To make leather more durable, colouring substances are applied to the hide which provide abrasion and stain resistance as well as colour enhancement. This process usually involves three or four coating operations. Generally, the more finish a leather has, the stiffer it becomes. Aniline dyed or vat dyed leathers will tend to be softer than pigmented leathers, although this can largely be overcome by milling. Other factors affecting softness include the tanning formula, hide quality, and aniline used.

FULL ANILINE: Aniline dyed and aniline finished leathers, have no pigments, thus all of nature’s marks are fully visible.

FULL TOP GRAIN: Unaltered surface of the hide which has been aniline dyed but has not been buffed or sanded. Only premium leathers are full top grain.

GRAIN: Outer or hair side of the hide.

HIDE: For upholstery, the whole skin coverings of large animals.

LEATHER: A hide that has been tanned to render it resistant to decay.

MILLING: A natural softening process in which leather is tumbled in a drum.

NATURAL MARKINGS: The subtle markings on leather are analogous to finger prints. They distinguish genuine leather from man made materials. Other marks which can appear on the surface of leather are healed scratches and scars, barbed wire marks, stretch marks, vein marks, wrinkles, brands and insect holes.

NECK WRINKLES: Natural creases from the neck and shoulder areas of the hide.

NUBUCK: This is a full aniline that has been sanded or buffed in order to create a nap. This is atop grain leather, therefore it is not considered a split or suede.

NUDE FINISH: A leather that is usually vat dyed, but has little or no protective coat.

PIGMENT FINISH: The colouring of a hide using a coating containing opaque pigments. This ensures uniformity of shade and resistance to fading.

PULL-UP: A pull-up leather is one which, when pulled tight, produces a brilliant burst of colour. Pull-ups are full aniline leathers that have been an oil and/or wax application. When the leather is pulled, the oil and/or wax separates, causing the colour to become lighter. Pull-ups can have varying thicknesses.

PURE ANILINE: An aniline dyed hide which has no finish. This is the ultimate leather often referred to as naked resistance.

SEMI-ANILINE: A semi-aniline leather has been aniline dyed, then slightly pigmented. Because pigment is solid, this type of leather ensures colour consistency while having stain and spill resistance.

SKIN: Pelt from young or small animal.

SNUFF: Slight abrasion of the hide’s surface, likened to removing newsprint from newspaper.

SPLIT: The underneath layer of the hide which has been "split" off from the top grain. It is then usually given a suede or pigment finish, embossed and used for shoes or garments. Split hides are generally thicker and stiffer than top grain leather, and may be used in less expensive upholstered furniture applications.

SQUARE FEET: Hides are measured by square feet, one yard is approximately 17 square feet.

SUEDE: Leather finished by buffing with an emery wheel to produce a napped surface. Suede is not as durable as top grain leather.

TANNING: A chemical process which converts the raw hide into a stable product. This process is often accomplished in large vats or drums.

TANNING AGENTS: Today’s upholstery leathers are tanned with soluble chromium sulphate. Synthetic tanning and vegetable materials derived from plants and wood (bark tanning) may also be used in combination.

THICKNESS OR WEIGHT: Measured in millimeters which, when divided by four, are quoted in ounces.

TOP GRAIN: When a hide is split, the top grain is the very top layer or hair cell layer of the hide that possesses the hide’s natural grain. It can be corrected by snuffing. Top