What is "ultimate leather" vs "ultra leather"?

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danaruns

danaruns

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Apr 20, 2015
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We are two women remodeling an old Class A motorhome (1998 Southwind 35S), and we don't know anything about this. We want to replace all the existing furniture, but boy can it get expensive. We found shop4seats.com, and their furniture is much less expensive than Flexsteel. Flexsteel uses a product called "ultra leather," which I've read about. But shop4seats uses a product called "ultimate leather." There is no description of it on their website and I can't find anything by googling.

Anyone know what "ultimate leather" is, and how it compares to "ultra leather?" Anyone have experience with it?

We travel with four dogs, so we need something that will stand up to claws and dirt.

Thanks in advance!
 
We might do that, but frankly we want all the furniture to match and give many years of life.
 
Those are just marketing words to describe some grade of synthetic upholstery made to look like "leather".  Flexsteel offers several grades of upholstery, including real split-grain cowhide, so it's a matter of budget & quality.  Ultraleather is a trademarked brand of polyurethane synthetic, but even it comes in several grades & styles. Mostly excellent, though. Ultimate leather is another brand, often used in clothing and some furniture, but I don't know how it compares in quality. Price is probably a air indicator, though. There are a lot of brands of synthetic "leather" out there, and price competition is going to keep the market is line.
 
When we decided to reupholster all of the furniture in our motor home we did some research on the polyurethane synthetics. Ultra Leather was the most expensive but their web site had durability tests results based on legitimate test protocols. I don't remember if they used ASME or some other industry standard protocol. There were a lot of knock offs, most much cheaper but lacking any evidence of testing results. We decided to go with Ultra Leather Plus which was the most abrasion resistant that Ultra Leather offered. It wore very well in the six years we kept the motor home. The material cost was about $1200. We did the captains chairs, dinette seats and cushions, and couch. Don't remember how many yards we used.
I bought a hog ring pliers tool, a staple remover, and a good hand stapler.
The inexpensive sewing machine we had with us wouldn't handle the sewing so I bought an old (1939) [font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]White sewing machine in a thrift shop and it worked well. All steel parts, no fancy stitches but large bobbins and did great straight stitching. [/font]
[font=verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif]We also replaced the foam in the dinette cushions with a good quality high density foam. [/font]
 
Hi danaruns. I don't have any firsthand experience with some of the products mentioned above, but our front two seats and large L-sofa are covered in UltraLeather, and they've held up very well.

Kev
 
We just purchased a sleeper sofa from shop4seats.com and are very satisfied with the quality. It was manufactured in CA and had to be shipped to NH. No issues with shipping and they have a excellent customer service dept.
 
As Ricardo Montalban said when selling the Chrysler Cordoba "The finest Corinthian Leather".  But no one has ever been able to find any leather that came from Corinth.  But it sure sold a lot of Cordoba's!
 
Ed,

You are showing your age!  Chrysler has not built a Cordoba on over 35 years!

( My YOUNGER brother owned one.)
 
I used shop4seats during my remodel and also upgraded to the ultraleather. Does not feel like real leather, but a nice soft product.  We got the light cream color and it shows and catch dirt quickly.  Matt finish and collects hand prints and even blue from blue jeans. I also ordered the extra springs.  Would not do that again. 

Overall happy with proctuct quality and service.  Had an issue with fork truck damaging couch drawer during shipping.  They imediately shipped a complete new drawer.


 
I have a Fleetwood Fiesta, entry level coach.  It came with Ultra Leather on the captains chairs and couch.  Didn't last three years.  I had them redone in Ultra Leather.  The name was the same but I can tell you the thickness and feel of the fabric isn't even close to being the same.

If you can get to see and touch some samples, that would be the best way to know what you are getting.
 
Not A Clue said:
If you can get to see and touch some samples, that would be the best way to know what you are getting.
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Call Shop4Seats and they will send color swatches.  Do not remember if they have samples to compare their standard and Ultra but ask.  I haven't used my chairs and couch long enough to give an opinion of long term durability.  I will say that the couch is a Jack Knife couch and bed.  The seating is a little stiff for me but this has to do with the padding not the material.

As a side note: Just took a 1300+ mile non stop to, then after a few days returned and the captain seats were pretty comfortable. 
 
Gregg said:
I used shop4seats during my remodel and also upgraded to the ultraleather. Does not feel like real leather, but a nice soft product.  We got the light cream color and it shows and catch dirt quickly.  Matt finish and collects hand prints and even blue from blue jeans. I also ordered the extra springs.  Would not do that again. 

Overall happy with proctuct quality and service.  Had an issue with fork truck damaging couch drawer during shipping.  They imediately shipped a complete new drawer.
Click to expand...


The Ultra Leather Plus feels like leather - not as soft as plain Ultra Leather but feels like my real leather furniture in the S&B.
 
At least the Ultra Leather that I received, it does not feel like the leather in my MDX nor my favorite chair in my family room.  Having said that, nice soft feel, but you can tell that it is not real leather. That is subjective I know and sure it depends on the supplier.  I can only convey my opinion of Shop4Seats line that I received.  Would still recommend.  Happy with the quality and price point. 
 
Thanks everyone. shop4seats has "ultimate leather," not "ultraleather," so that's really what my question is about. We live about 15 miles from their factory, so I was able to visit the place and get a sample. Gregg, I think what you're referring to as ultraleather might really be ultimate leather, since I don't think shop4seats uses ultraleather. You say it doesn't feel like leather. That's kind of my issue. Does it feel "plastic" like?
 
I just pulled my receipt and it is listed as just UL which I then went to their web site and it lists it as Ultimate Leather.  Not sure if the market is that particular in the naming.  We know it is vinyl and not real leather no matter what they call it but who knows.  As far as it feeling Plastic like, I would say no.  Of course that is subjective.  I have real leather in my cars and a couple of chairs in my home and each product feels a little different.  When comparing those to the MH seats, the Shop4Seats material is softer and by no means Plastic like.  I would say that the texture being more of a mat finish is probably the biggest difference to me.  I am used to leather having more of a smoother finish.  Again, for the price, I am very pleased with the product.  I am sure real leather would have been another grand or two for everything I ordered.  You state that you are only 15 minutes away.  I would run over to the factory and check it out.  Bottom line, you are the one it needs to satisfy.  I would think they would be happy to show you the product and their sales team was very helpful.
 
"Ultraleather" is a registered trademark brand name owned by Ultra-fabrics. They would be very particular about it, but consumers tend to use "ultraleather" loosely, just life "coke" or "zerox".
 
Gary RV Roamer said:
"Ultraleather" is a registered trademark brand name owned by Ultra-fabrics. They would be very particular about it, but consumers tend to use "ultraleather" loosely, just life "coke" or "zerox".
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Great, thank you!
 
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