How to Distinguish Real vs. Fake Ostrich Leather in Baton Rouge, LA

Ostrich leather is an exotic form of leather similar to alligator, snakeskin, crocodile and stingray leathers that gets a lot of attention among exotic leather enthusiasts. It has some highly unique properties that make it both attractive and desirable, but it can also be very expensive. This means if you intend to purchase ostrich leather wallets or ostrich belts in Baton Rouge, LA, it’s important you know exactly how to determine the difference between real and fake ostrich leather.

There are some tanneries that produce what’s referred to as “ostrich print” leather, which provides some similarities in appearance to real ostrich leather but at a much lower price. If you’re merely looking to get some of the superficial qualities of ostrich leather for your leather items, then this might not be a big deal for you, but if authenticity is important to you, then you’ll need to be able to know exactly how to tell the difference so you can make sure you’re getting exactly what you’re paying for.

Ostrich leather is often considered to be the highest-quality leather in the world—it is tough and pliable, which makes it ideal for belts, wallets, boots, handbags and other types of leather accessories. Its natural oils help it avoid becoming stiff or cracked.

With this in mind, here are some ways to determine if what you’re looking at is actually genuine ostrich leather:

• Feel it: Run your hand along the leather. You should be able to feel some bumps if it is genuine ostrich skin. These bumps should be easy to feel—there may even be small pores at the top of the bumps where there were once feathers growing. This kind of texture is very difficult to replicate in faux ostrich leather, which uses an embossing stamp to essentially print on the appearance of ostrich skin.
• Lack of uniformity: There shouldn’t be anything clearly uniform or “perfect” about real ostrich skin. With fake ostrich leather, there is generally much more uniformity in the quill bumps, but in real leather each quill mark is unique, which is another thing that’s difficult to replicate. You may also notice repeating quill patterns in fake ostrich skin where the embossing stamp started the pattern over. This is obviously a sign of faux leather.
• Brand name: There are certain brands that will only use real ostrich leather and never sell faux products. You tend to pay more money for certain brand names, but if you’re going to be purchasing real ostrich, leather you should already be prepared to spend a lot of money on the products anyway, at least if you care about getting a good-quality item.

For more information about the various differences between real and fake ostrich leather and how you can easily determine which is which when you’re shopping, we encourage you to contact the team at Acadian Leather today. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you have about our products, which include genuine ostrich wallets and ostrich belts in Baton Rouge, LA!

Categorised in: Leather Care