So I have been looking at motorhomes of every shape size and range of price and the one thing I see fairly consistantly is leather sofas and couches. When I asked the dealers at the shows they all said "Everyone asks for leather."
Now I was born and raised in Florida so maybe it's just me, but leather is so hot and sticky. From what I have seen of people that own MHs they tend to travel and stick to warmer areas where this will become an issue. So my question is why does "everyone" want leather? Is it because leather is tougher and doesn't wear out? Is there some reason I am not seeing?
Also for those of you like me that prefer cloth how many of us are out there?
Just curious, Leslie
petitetot said
07:33 PM Jan 29, 2008
We too started looking at RVs and I do agree with you, leather is hot and sticky. We do not want leather, we really want cloth.
Racerguy said
07:45 PM Jan 29, 2008
I think 'for the most part'it is more about status symbal than anything else.I have always prefered cloth myself,in fact just bought our full time truck Saturday( 08 Dodge 3500) and Wife and I both liked cloth interior better.I think you will find there are a lot of us who prefer cloth. As I reread your post I see you were talking about Furniture.more than anything but I'm still in agreement as to sofas and such. Have had both and prefer cloth.
-- Edited by Racerguy at 19:47, 2008-01-29
-- Edited by Racerguy at 19:55, 2008-01-29
Darrell and Judy said
08:47 AM Jan 30, 2008
Well, let me say this about that. We have a fifthwheel not a motorhome but bought it unfurnished in the living room. Originally we had picked out a sofa with a fabric covering but it turned out to be too big to get into the RV. So, we found another sofa that is leather and we are very happy with it. When we went to pick out Lazy Boy Recliners for the livingroom we just automatically headed for the leather but the sales lady who also had experience as a designer pointed out to us that that might make the room look a "little cold". So we began to rethink our decision and ended up with fabric covered recliners that match the decor of the RV beautifully. Given that and the fact that leather can be hot and sticky in hot weather we are very pleased with our decision and the sales lady's advice. So, no, not everyone wants leather - I think you will find it pretty much a 50 / 50 proposition. One last thought, if you have pets leather will get scatched by their claws (it won't necessarily tear but the marks will show) and we have first hand proof of that. Meow!!
RickV1955 said
10:02 AM Jan 30, 2008
We feel the same way as you do about leather (although, we have seen some really nice "soft" leather furniture that seems to be really confortable...most probably is hot and sticky in the warm weather. For the most part, we like cloth/fabric as it seems to be much more confortable, and I would think more durable, overall.
Also (as an aside..lol) I don't get this thing about "Euro furniture" either??
We find these really uncomfortable....in our opinion, not particularly visually pleasing...(seem to look rather "cheap".)...what does everyone else think?
Rick and Debi
Cindy T said
11:07 AM Jan 30, 2008
In our stix'n'brix we have all leather furniture in the family room & all cloth in the living room. Haven't found the leather to be hot or sticky as it seems to breathe. We're in a dry climate (Colorado) so maybe it's different in a more humid area. The leather has been extremely durable. In the FT RV, I expect to have cloth sofa & leather recliners.
Guiler85 said
11:52 AM Jan 30, 2008
Leslie, I'm with YOU!! I have never understood the preoccupation with leather, either. We bought our fifth wheel "off the lot" so we didn't have a say in its furnishings. The same with our F550. We have a fabric sofa and two leather recliners in the RV and I keep a blanket/throw in mine all the time because I hate sticking to the leather. We also have leather in the truck and I feel the same way about those seats. Glad there are others like me out there -- I thought I was the only one! :)
Speedhitch said
12:15 PM Jan 30, 2008
Cindy you got it. Some climates are not good for leather. I like leather because it is easy to keep clean. We end up with cloth gitting stained so easy...we eat and watch TV...need I say more. Leather has kept me out of trouble when spilling food. Each to their own..
Joe
DaveSam said
02:47 PM Jan 30, 2008
I'm with you Joe. While the wife does keep a throw on the leather couch, leather has kept me out of the doghouse. The dog and I are clumsy and do spill my coffee once in awhile.
Dave
Darrell and Judy said
08:02 PM Jan 30, 2008
Rick and Debi,
We had Euro Loungers and sold them in our yard sale. They were comfortable but did not even begin to compare with our Lazy Boy Recliners. We have seen some that are very nice quality and very comfortable however they tend to take up a lot of room in an RV, especially when the ottomans are included.
leilani59 said
10:43 AM Jan 31, 2008
ok i beg to differ..We also live in fl. (northern.) And our living room is furnished with Decora Leather Love seat and Sofa.. We just love it.. I for one have always thought that leather would be sticky and hot. but if you have air conditioner, which you can't do without here in fl..It is very nice and comfortable.. Our leather is very soft.
we also have a golden retriever tha loves to jump on the couch.. never have we seen a scratch or tear.. sooo we have thought about continuing our search for leather in our fiver. now... we have seen some leather in rv's which I would'nt have.. very uncomfortable..
Cindy T said
11:25 AM Jan 31, 2008
I have to agree that there is a real difference in the quality of leather. I've seen some couches that were stiff & uncomfortable, and others that were soft like warm butter! I'm not sure if the RV manufacturers provide good quality leather for their furniture, perhaps buying "after market" furniture is a better way to go. We run the air conditioner in summer & the leather couch/chair is quite comfortable.
Linda said
04:21 PM Jan 31, 2008
We have had leather furniture for years and love it! We started out with cloth recliners in the RV. That only lasted about a month and then we bought leather Lazy Boy Recliners. We have never experienced the hot and sticky before so not sure about that. They are extremely easy to clean! Just thought I would add my opinion.
LakeConroePenny said
07:59 PM Jan 31, 2008
I am with you ! As I am in TX, near Houston, humidity capital, I don't want a vehicle with leather seats, at all, ever ! Especially as I spend about 8 months of the year in shorts. Ouch, on that hot seat ! Leather seats make the whole vehicle hotter.
I have 190,000 miles on one of my vehicles, (20 years old), and it has pale gray velour seats and door panels that still look like new, not worn or dirty. So I know that this velour is long wearing.
Now, inside with the AC on, a good soft leather might not be so bad, but I still prefer cloth. Even though I don't get stains on the furniture, it is steam cleaned now and then, and the vehicles, just to get the dust out. No big deal, I get my neighbor's son to do it. Penny
-- Edited by LakeConroePenny at 20:06, 2008-01-31
ahoweth said
09:23 PM Jan 31, 2008
My 2 cents. As for us leather is the only way to go. We have seen many, and that is many, older RV's that had cloth furniture. In almost every case it really did show wear and dirt/stains. The leather furniture seemed to wear much better and be much easier to clean. In our previous coach, we owned for 6 years, the leather furniture looked like new and we full timed in it for over 2 years. Unexpectedly when we went to trade it in on another coach the leather furniture made a substantial difference in the trade-in value. I personally do like the feel of a nice high quality valour but I will always go with the leather if it is an option. Just my 2 cents. It's your money, buy what makes you happy. You can get good quality in either.
brucedelta said
11:16 PM Jan 31, 2008
I have
ahoweth wrote:
My 2 cents. As for us leather is the only way to go. We have seen many, and that is many, older RV's that had cloth furniture. In almost every case it really did show wear and dirt/stains. The leather furniture seemed to wear much better and be much easier to clean. In our previous coach, we owned for 6 years, the leather furniture looked like new and we full timed in it for over 2 years. Unexpectedly when we went to trade it in on another coach the leather furniture made a substantial difference in the trade-in value. I personally do like the feel of a nice high quality valour but I will always go with the leather if it is an option. Just my 2 cents. It's your money, buy what makes you happy. You can get good quality in either.
I have to agree here, as a shopper I want leather. When I look at used units the leather always looks better. Additionally as the owner of cats I know we need leather to keep it reasonable looking, and since it seems over 75% of RV'ers have pets I think that comes into play when deciding.
As an interesting aside, Shirley and I have been wondering why it seems almost all RV'ers claim to travel with pets but almost 100% of the for sale ad's state no pets / no smoking.
Luvglass said
01:35 PM Feb 1, 2008
brucedelta wrote:
As an interesting aside, Shirley and I have been wondering why it seems almost all RV'ers claim to travel with pets but almost 100% of the for sale ad's state no pets / no smoking.
Maybe it's because pet owners are so happy, they never come off the road, nor grow old and die.
On the leather / fabric discussion, I prefer fabric, but must say that after time, the fabric appears worn and shows stains much more than leather. For resale the leather is an advantage I think.
Judy said
08:29 PM Feb 1, 2008
As of now we have fabric but would perfer leather some day if we are on the road long enough. I think it depends what grade and quality of leather you buy. Another thing is I dont think a person will be sitting inside theyre RV with high humidity without A/C running. southwestjudy
Rodeworthy said
04:29 PM Feb 2, 2008
I am so glad you asked this question. We bought our fifth wheel sans the recliners but opted for the cloth covered sofa since it requires a precision fit when the slides come in. Not enamoured with the sofa and it may be replaced even though we opted for the 96 inch version.
Presently we are in SW Florida and don't run the A/C unless it is really necessary which is not that often this time of year. We are shopping for Lazy Boy chairs and are undecided on the material. We were impressed with a microfibre material and also an expensive leather unit with baseball stiching. Our friends have bought a less expensive leather pair which they love and the colour would look great in our unit. There are a number of models in the 31 - 33" width range which would be ideal in an RV environment.
We are still undecided. But I know we have to make a decison soon. We need a place to sit down :) I am certain we made the right move not to purchase the offering from the RV factory though.
Good luck with your decision. I'll be watching the posts.
Rodeworthy
-- Edited by Rodeworthy at 16:32, 2008-02-02
Rodeworthy said
11:39 PM Feb 14, 2008
Update:
Well the deed is done. We bought La-Z-Boy recliners and ended up with leather. The chairs were on sale and were $200 each less than the last time we looked. I could not resist that.
An alternative was a soft polyester microfibre material in a very light colour (off white). The leather is tan. Either one would have been great but I am happy with the choice. We will pick them up March 4.
Roz said
07:51 AM Feb 15, 2008
We, too, fattened the cow at La-Z Boy Showroom with the purchase of a wonderful leather recliner this week for our MH. We are recarpeting with Milliken Legato squares of carpet (thick padding), removing one couch to install a custom computer desk and the La-Z Boy.
Yep, life is good. We chose leather. It just seems to wear better for us over time retaining its appearance. Yes, we love the softness of some fabrics, but . . .
So I have been looking at motorhomes of every shape size and range of price and the one thing I see fairly consistantly is leather sofas and couches. When I asked the dealers at the shows they all said "Everyone asks for leather."
Now I was born and raised in Florida so maybe it's just me, but leather is so hot and sticky. From what I have seen of people that own MHs they tend to travel and stick to warmer areas where this will become an issue. So my question is why does "everyone" want leather? Is it because leather is tougher and doesn't wear out? Is there some reason I am not seeing?
Also for those of you like me that prefer cloth how many of us are out there?
Just curious,
Leslie
As I reread your post I see you were talking about Furniture.more than anything but I'm still in agreement as to sofas and such. Have had both and prefer cloth.
-- Edited by Racerguy at 19:47, 2008-01-29
-- Edited by Racerguy at 19:55, 2008-01-29
We had Euro Loungers and sold them in our yard sale. They were comfortable but did not even begin to compare with our Lazy Boy Recliners. We have seen some that are very nice quality and very comfortable however they tend to take up a lot of room in an RV, especially when the ottomans are included.
I for one have always thought that leather would be sticky and hot. but if you have air conditioner, which you can't do without here in fl..It is very nice and comfortable.. Our leather is very soft.
we also have a golden retriever tha loves to jump on the couch.. never have we seen a scratch or tear.. sooo we have thought about continuing our search for leather in our fiver. now... we have seen some leather in rv's which I would'nt have.. very uncomfortable..
We have had leather furniture for years and love it! We started out with cloth recliners in the RV. That only lasted about a month and then we bought leather Lazy Boy Recliners. We have never experienced the hot and sticky before so not sure about that. They are extremely easy to clean! Just thought I would add my opinion.
I have 190,000 miles on one of my vehicles, (20 years old), and it has pale gray velour seats and door panels that still look like new, not worn or dirty. So I know that this velour is long wearing.
Now, inside with the AC on, a good soft leather might not be so bad, but I still prefer cloth. Even though I don't get stains on the furniture, it is steam cleaned now and then, and the vehicles, just to get the dust out. No big deal, I get my neighbor's son to do it.
-- Edited by LakeConroePenny at 20:06, 2008-01-31
Just my 2 cents. It's your money, buy what makes you happy. You can get good quality in either.
I have to agree here, as a shopper I want leather. When I look at used units the leather always looks better. Additionally as the owner of cats I know we need leather to keep it reasonable looking, and since it seems over 75% of RV'ers have pets I think that comes into play when deciding.
As an interesting aside, Shirley and I have been wondering why it seems almost all RV'ers claim to travel with pets but almost 100% of the for sale ad's state no pets / no smoking.
On the leather / fabric discussion, I prefer fabric, but must say that after time, the fabric appears worn and shows stains much more than leather. For resale the leather is an advantage I think.
As of now we have fabric but would perfer leather some day if we are on the road long enough. I think it depends what grade and quality of leather you buy. Another thing is I dont think a person will be sitting inside theyre RV with high humidity without A/C running.
southwestjudy
Presently we are in SW Florida and don't run the A/C unless it is really necessary which is not that often this time of year. We are shopping for Lazy Boy chairs and are undecided on the material. We were impressed with a microfibre material and also an expensive leather unit with baseball stiching. Our friends have bought a less expensive leather pair which they love and the colour would look great in our unit. There are a number of models in the 31 - 33" width range which would be ideal in an RV environment.
We are still undecided. But I know we have to make a decison soon. We need a place to sit down :) I am certain we made the right move not to purchase the offering from the RV factory though.
Good luck with your decision. I'll be watching the posts.
Rodeworthy
-- Edited by Rodeworthy at 16:32, 2008-02-02
Yep, life is good. We chose leather. It just seems to wear better for us over time retaining its appearance. Yes, we love the softness of some fabrics, but . . .
To quote someone, "Ain't life grand?"
Charles