Are leather floor tiles the best option for your next flooring project? While not suited for every environment, leather floor tiling presents many surprising advantages over conventional floor materials. Following is a review of the benefits and potential issues of leather tile flooring.
Leather Floor Tiles – The Pros
#1: Aesthetic Appeal
If leather has one major advantage over conventional flooring materials, it’s the natural warmth and inviting aesthetic it achieves wherever it’s installed. Besides its richness and welcoming effect, leather also exudes a warm, luxurious feel. The trademark aroma of genuine leather has long signified sophistication, cleanliness, and down-to-earth hospitality.
As leather wears over time, it adds an aged, lived-in look to the environment. This change does not in any way diminish the durability of the leather. In fact, many homeowners claim in spite of normal scuffs and scratches, its appearance improves with age.
#2: Versatility
Leather can be customized to achieve a variety of looks: from traditional to contemporary, formal to casual, and elegant to rustic. With a range of colours, sizes, grades, and methods of installation to choose from, leather floor tiles can be specifically crafted to suit the needs of different home and commercial spaces.
Recent innovations such as magnetic floor tiles have made this flooring easier to install and rearrange to accommodate rapidly-changing work environments.
#3: Durability
Leather tiles are as durable and long-lasting as conventional flooring materials. Although leather will succumb to wear and tear as do most materials, this often enhances its appeal. Depending on their type and application, leather tiles may require a little more care than traditional flooring materials. In many cases, however, a regular vacuuming or sweeping are all that’s needed to enjoy your floor tiling for years to come.
#4: Acoustics
Leather tiles help to enhance the acoustics in a space by absorbing sound energy. This makes them an excellent choice for executive boardrooms, screening rooms, libraries, theatres, dens, and bedrooms.
#5: Easy to Maintain
While the level of care required depends on the look you want to achieve, leather tiles are generally easy to maintain. Some leather floor tiles are treated with a wax solution to be more spot and water resistant. In this case, an annual waxing and buffing is recommended on top of regular cleaning. But for those who prefer the natural, lived-in look of untreated leather, a regular vacuuming or sweeping will suffice.
Leather Floor Tiles – The Cons
#1: Sensitivity to Sunshine, Humidity, and Heat
Leather tiles are not well suited to high-moisture areas, unless specifically noted that they are waterproof. They also can fade or discolour in extremely dry (with less than 20 percent average humidity) or hot environments, or rooms with constant sunlight exposure. For kitchens, bathrooms, and sunrooms, use conventional tiles.
#2: Less Stain-Resistant
While leather tiles are equally durable to regular flooring, they can stain more easily than regular flooring when food or oils are dropped on them, particularly if they haven’t been treated with wax.
#3: Responsive to Wear and Tear
Over time, leather will change in appearance and feel, and this can be either an advantage or disadvantage, depending on personal taste. Over time, leather develops a rich patina over its surface and will be affected by high traffic levels. Nevertheless, some people prefer the “character factor” of a well-worn leather floor just as they would a leather jacket.
Conclusion
Leather tiles help to achieve a specific ambience in a room or commercial space. They are versatile, acoustically insulating, durable, and easy to maintain.
Given the advantages and potential problem areas listed above, we recommend leather for the following applications: family rooms, dens, home theaters, living and dining rooms, bedrooms, hotels, executive offices, conference rooms, reception areas, hospitality, galleries, museums, libraries, and showrooms.
With expert advice from the professionals at Blackstock Leather, you can find the perfect flooring solution to meet your requirements. For more information on our Silk Road Leather Floor Tiles please contact us.