How to Choose a Top Grain Leather Couch

Choose the pigmenting process of the top grain leather couch. Compare aniline, semi-aniline and pigmented leather products. Aniline leather dying is a process that dyes the leather completely through the entire thickness to create a soft and easy-to-clean leather with the drawback of staining easily. Semi-aniline leather resists stains because of a special coating that will keep the leather soft and clean looking. Pigmented leather is the lowest quality dying process, but resists stains readily.

Look carefully at the construction of the couch. Some couches may contain a mixture of top grain and split grain leathers over the various surfaces of the couch. You may find furniture with top grain on the cushions, arms and legs and split grain on the remaining surfaces. A couch with a label "leather-matched" indicates more than one grain on the surfaces.

Check the workmanship of the couch to make sure the frame and the leather bond well. Examine the seams for high quality fit without gaps, puckers or splits. Note the cushions to make sure they have zippers to enable cleaning and cushion replacement.

Buy all the leather furniture pieces you want as a set at one time. Because leather has individual color and textures, you may not be able to match additional pieces if you spread out your purchases.