When Winnebago started building motorhomes in the 60’s there were basically 3 upholstery options for RV furniture. They were Fabric, Vinyl and Leather. Some of the most popular color trends were Harvest Gold and Olive Green. We have come a long way since then. Fabrics now come in thousands of colors, patterns and compositions. And new manufacturing technologies and synthetic fibers have led to more durable, attractive looking coverings in a myriad of colors and designs. Leather will never go out of style but has become quite expensive for RV applications. Especially when you consider every piece of furniture in a coach being covered in 100% genuine leather. The only large RV manufacturer I know of still going this route is Entegra Coach on their top of the line coaches.
When RV manufacturers would order a piece of furniture in leather from furniture manufacturers like Flexsteel and Villa, it would be built with real leather everywhere you touch and everything else would be covered in a matching vinyl (such as the skirts, kickboards and back of the seats). This helped save money, but the Leather and vinyl did not always age the same with the vinyls changing colors over time to where they didn’t really match the leather anymore. This was standard procedure for manufacturers such as Newmar, American Coach, Monaco, Winnebago etc… This was pretty effective until Genuine Ultraleather started to be used in place of leather/vinyls around 2002. Some manufacturers switched sooner than others.
Vinyls are still used but not as frequently. They are quite durable and easy to clean but don’t breath, so you tend to sweat when it’s hot and vinyl gets stiff when it’s cold. Making it feel even colder. Also, most vinyls release gases as they age. They are still a great product and are economically priced. Vinyls today are better than they were back in the 70’s unless you’re talking about “Naugahyde.” Does anybody really know what that stuff is ?? I mean, have you ever seen a “Nauga”? (It’s actually cast vinyl made here in the USA by Uniroyal for over 80 years.) Vinyl furniture covering is commonly used for boats, ATVs, golf carts, snowmobile seats etc…Vinyl is still heavily used in Travel Trailers because of the cost.
By 2004 it seemed most manufacturers were making the switch to Ultraleather. Ultraleather was softer, just as durable as leather and needs no maintenance or conditioning. It was also easier to work with, as it could be cut on large Gerber cutting machines while leather still had to be cut out by hand. If only the manufacturers would have stuck with Genuine Ultraleather products and stuck to the old adage of “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”. Instead they looked for ways to save money as Ultraleather is not cheap. Around 2008-2009 polyurethanes from China flooded the market. Of course they were cheaper and the RV manufacturers started using them in place of Ultraleather on their less expensive motorhomes. As many of you might know, there have been extensive failures with some of the Chinese polyurethanes. By 2017 many manufacturers have started using the cheaper polyurethanes on all their motorhomes, while some manufacturers continued using Ultraleather in their higher end coaches.
Go Figure!
Today, Polyurethanes are the most common covering material used in RV furniture upholstery. They don’t release gases as they age and are much more environmentally friendly to produce than vinyls. There are numerous polyurethane brands to choose from with a wide range of prices to match. Some are great products such as Ultraleather by Ultrafabrics, while some fall apart after 2 years of use. Peeling like a bad sunburn. The old adage “You get what you pay for” is still true today. We highly recommend Genuine Ultraleather products over any other covering material, as we have a 25 year track record with thousands of pieces of furniture covered in this material being delivered to the consumer. And we have had virtually no problems with this product. (Ultraleather is manufactured in Japan.)
We first saw Genuine Ultraleather back in the Early 90’s. I might be wrong, but if my memory serves me correct I believe Country Coach was the first major RV Manufacturer to use Ultraleather. It was one of the first polyurethanes. We had never seen anything like it before. It felt like my lamb skin wallet and it was synthetic. I just couldn’t get over how silky smooth it was. And they said it was super durable and easily to clean and maintain. We were convinced this would be the future. Back then, there was one line of Ultraleather: “HP” (short for High Performance). Today there are numerous lines of Genuine Ultraleather including, HP, Brisa, Brisa Distressed, Brisa Fresco, and Promessa to name a few.
Ultrafabrics, who produces Ultraleather, introduced a less expensive polyurethane in 2015 called Uf2. In 2018 most manufacturers are using Uf2 while a few are still using the better Ultraleather in their higher end coaches. So far there have only been a few issues, but time will tell if it holds up like their Genuine Ultraleather products.
The old adage “You get what you pay for” is still true today. Bradd and Hall highly recommends Genuine Ultraleather products. To see all of the Ultraleather lines and colors available, check out our RV Furniture Color Selections page here.