Why YSK: The term “Genuine Leather” is a marketing term to sell the lowest quality leather possible.

When purchasing a leather product, look for full grain leather or top grain leather instead. These will provide a much higher quality cut of leather that will look and feel much better and last for much longer.

        • @Givesomefucks@reddthat.com
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          12 years ago

          Reddit does it with Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Tumblr…

          Some of the bigger communities is literally just screenshots of what people say other places.

          It would be pretty funny to see an instance that just pulls posts from subs and posts them to Lemmy. Not direct links to reddit, just copy the link/pic/video

          • Ben Hur Horse Race
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            12 years ago

            fair point… yeah now that you mention it, a lot of the shit I used to see on reddit was from “curated tumbler”, " white people twitter" etc…

            I’m glad I left reddit, the api cluster fuck and associated protests (which I joined w/ my rinky dink tiny sub) came at the perfect time to give me the shove out the door I needed. I was spending 3, 4, 5 hours of my day reading the most inane bullshit.

            I’m at extremely high risk of it happening again with lemmy, but I like to think it’ll never take on the endlessly churning sewer-exit pipe amount of “content” that reddit had with its however many millions of users.

  • @derf82@lemmy.world
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    52 years ago

    Not quite. The truth is, there is no universally recognized grades of leather. But when bragging about quality, genuine leather is the lowest bar they can go (other than bonded leather, which isn’t fully leather but just a veneer over fabric.

    Full grain or top grain is generally what you want.

    https://lifehacker.com/what-genuine-leather-really-means-1850309049

    Also, some are concerned about the use of an animal product. The vast majority of leather is a byproduct of the beef industry. It is skin that would otherwise go to waste. And it is also far more environmentally friendly a material than many alternatives, which are often made of plastics.

    • Margot Robbie
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      32 years ago

      Yeah, honestly you should buy leather products based on brands than on description of “genuine” leather.

      And agree, real leather is a much better alternative to the ridiculous amount of micro-plastic synthetic leather generates, especially since it’ll last you decades if you maintain it well.

      • @derf82@lemmy.world
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        02 years ago

        We applauded Native Americans for using every part of the animal, yet when we do it today somehow it’s a bad thing.

        The skins are there rather you like the industry or not. Better to use them than throw them in a landfill.

        • @queermunist@lemmy.world
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          02 years ago

          By your logic, why don’t we flay off the skins of all dead people and wear those too? They’re just going to waste!

          I’m opposed to the animal killing industry and all of its various outgrowths. The less money that can be made from it, the less money will be invested into the industry in the first place. If the skins end up in a landfill, that’s lost revenue that makes the industry suffer. Putting money in the pockets of these businesses just lets them reinvest. Stop trying to portray your choice to wear skin as somehow the more ethical one and preach from some imaginary moral high ground.

          • debased
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            02 years ago

            gotta love all the people throwing shade at you but never showing any actual counterargument. Average carnist behaviour, gotta keep the cognitive dissonance at bay.

            • @queermunist@lemmy.world
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              2 years ago

              Don’t you see? By not draping ourselves in the flesh of dead animals we’re actually being disrespectful of their sacrifices!!! You don’t want animals to end up in landfills, do you?

              Bleh. There’s nothing worse than these preachy types who try to assuage their guilt by presenting their practices as ethical. At least carnists that don’t care about animals are honest with themselves

  • Nora
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    2 years ago

    Don’t buy leather. Cows are sentient beings with their own subjective experience. Actions that inflict unnecessary harm upon others should be reconsidered.

    If you downvote, you must have a justification for buying leather and I’d love to hear it.

    • @Steak@lemmy.ca
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      02 years ago

      the harsh truth of this existence is that some life kills other life. its just the way it is. from the cellular level all the way up to orcas killing seals. its natural and fine imo. of course we shouldn’t go out of our way to inflict unnecessary pain and suffering. but if im going to eat a cow which i do regularly, then im also going to use every part of the cow because its the right thing to do. including its skin to make myself a nice leather knife sheath or a nice pair of leather boots. leather is an excellent material for all kinds of things humans can use.

      • Nora
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        12 years ago

        Why do you think it’s wrong to waste part of a cow? It’s clear you think they deserve moral consideration, but you don’t need leather or meat, so it is automatically unnecessary pain and suffering. Many terrible things happen in nature, rape and killing and eating babies etc. We don’t use what happens in nature as moral justification.

          • Nora
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            12 years ago

            Right so we still have to decide whether or not rape and murder are morally okay considering it happens elsewhere in nature. If someone else does something, does that make it okay to do it to another person?

            • @Steak@lemmy.ca
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              2 years ago

              is it morally right to destroy thousands of acres of land to grow soy? what about the animals that used to call that place home? the only way to live a life free of any moral infractions is to die on the spot. i choose my moral infractions as wisely as possible. my meat comes from a local butcher that practices circular agriculture. is it perfect? no something must still die so i can live. but something must die so you can live as well. i just don’t sit on a high horse and pretend im better than others.

              edit: im also currently in the process off acquiring a firearms license as i live in northern Ontario and the hunting is good here. so pretty soon i will be acquiring my own meat in what is in my opinion, the most moral way possible. i will hunt for my own meat. the animal will have lived a beautiful life in nature where it belongs, right up until the moment i kill it. i will use every piece of the animal to feed myself, my family, and my friends.

              • Nora
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                12 years ago

                77% of the soy grown is fed to livestock. If the world went vegan, we could reduce total farmland by 70%. The other thing is as science develops, with perfect farming methods, vegans would cause zero deaths, whereas animal farmers are always going to be killing animals intentionally. You should minimize the harm you cause. A cow doesn’t care if it was murdered locally or not. All these businesses that pretend to sell an ethical animal product are scamming people with trivial labels. The animals you murder are living their own lives, why take that from them? Deer have families too. Hunting is also totally not practical for a significant portion of the population to do. Farming plants can feed the planet without destroying the it. The animals you kill are living beings with their own experience.

    • @gloriousspearfish@feddit.dk
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      02 years ago

      Justification: I like to eat cows, they taste good. Might as well use the skin when the animal is killed anyway. Also leather is a really good material for a lot of things.

      • Nora
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        12 years ago

        How is that a justification? You wouldn’t use that logic on humans.

      • @nattekrant@feddit.nl
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        02 years ago

        I love meat, I like a good leather jacket. I want a world where we take good care of our animals, take no more than we need and then use the entire animal as efficiently as possible. Reality however is a lot more cruel and wasteful. It is everyone’s personal choice but I chose to stop purchasing cow and pig products.

        • Nora
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          12 years ago

          You don’t need leather or meat. You are taking more than you need. You should really watch dominion so you can see that you absolutely don’t take good care of the animals. A personal choice does not inflict harm on others. We should aim to minimize cruelty and wastefulness.

  • Zorro
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    22 years ago

    Well yes but my wallet is cool and on a chain

  • niktemadur
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    22 years ago

    In one of those 70s Fat Albert episodes, I think it was Rudy who one day showed up wearing a jacket of “genuine imitation leather”. That term has stuck with me for decades.

    • corporateHippie
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      12 years ago

      Wonder what the people who are downvoting this are thinking. Is it not murder, or is it only a restproduct of murder?

      • unsophisticated
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        02 years ago

        I wonder what people who upvote this are thinking, obviously the point is moot unless you are also vegan. And who upvotes someone going “meat is murder” in the comment section.

        • @kakes@sh.itjust.works
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          12 years ago

          I’m not vegan, but I do personally agree that it’s selfish and inhumane to eat meat and use leather - especially on an industrial scale. I eat meat, but I don’t have any delusions about where it comes from.

          Not meaning to argue, but just to say it’s not only vegans that think about this stuff. Also, even if it was, that doesn’t mean they’re wrong or moot.

          • TheSaneWriter
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            12 years ago

            I think it’s the difference between vegan ethics and being a vegan in practice. I generally agree with vegan ethics, I think that meat and leather are generally made from murder. Perhaps a lesser version of murder than killing a human being, but murder nonetheless. However, animal products are common in both food and consumer goods and I don’t have the time or money to commit towards fully avoiding them. Like with the issue of many of our agricultural goods being the product of slavery, I believe that this is something that should moreso be curtailed by the state than any individual consumer.

            • @kakes@sh.itjust.works
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              12 years ago

              This is my general philosophy. I try to be as ethical as I can, but I realize there will always be a certain level of “hypocrisy” in my actions.

      • @hark@lemmy.world
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        02 years ago

        I think it’s because it’s irrelevant for someone who would be interested in leather (and this YSK). I’m sure they’re well aware of where leather comes from. I will say, though, that if cows are getting murdered for food, then they might as well use the whole animal instead of letting it go to waste.

    • mitchie151
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      02 years ago

      In the right context, leather goods are much more durable and sustainable than synthetic alternatives. That said, leather is a co-product of the meat and dairy industry which is currently ridiculously unsustainable. Leather for leathers sake in designer goods and such is ridiculous.

      • NotAPenguin
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        12 years ago

        Leather production is terrible for the environment, a shit ton of chemicals used.

      • Joe
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        32 years ago

        You didn’t need to kill the cow to eat, you chose to kill something that didn’t want to die for the fleeting taste of it’s dead body on your tongue

  • @Moops@lemmy.world
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    2 years ago

    It seems so odd too because if I didn’t know better, I’d assume “Full or Top Grain” was lower quality than “Genuine Leather” just by how the phrases sound.

  • @dadbod@lemmy.world
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    12 years ago

    If you’re looking for bifl full grain leather stuff, hanks belts is pretty good. not cheap, but you only need one ever.

  • c4
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    02 years ago

    All I can say is that it’s still at least leather. Most things (e.x., belts) will say “manmade leather” or “manmade materials” and they are fake and break. The genuine leather belt I have has been working for 4 years without snapping.

  • @BigTrout75@lemmy.world
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    02 years ago

    Can somebody explain why leather is better? It’s it the smell? The feel? Tradition? I see it in car reviews where they complain about cloth.

    • @kcdaguy@lemmy.world
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      12 years ago

      It is something people think they want because it is more expensive and in higher trim levels in cars. But when your car is parked in the hot sun the leather feels like it burns and in the winter is freezing to the touch. Leather also doesn’t breath so you end up sweating more and if your are not wearing long pants your leg will stick to the seat. Cloth is so much better functionally. Cloth also lasts longer than the fake leather they put in cars. Cloth won’t peel like the fake leather.

    • Ronno
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      02 years ago

      @BigTrout75 many people are sensitive to dust. A car with a leather interior is easier to clean. The dust cannot stick in the seats.

      • Noxy
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        02 years ago

        is soy milk really milk, though?

        nope.

        do I care?

        nope. love the stuff.

        • Zerlyna
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          12 years ago

          Dark chocolate almond milk is my favorite splurge.

        • @average650@lemmy.world
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          02 years ago

          If you enjoy it great.

          Except for a few specific cases, indo not enjoy them at all… Oat milk is okay if the milk is not a major player in taste. Coconut milk is good if you want a coconutty taste.

          • @MrAegis@lemmy.ml
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            12 years ago

            Personally I prefer soymilk and almond milk for cereal, but I’ll stick to regular milk products for most sauces/cooking.