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8 Ways To Tell The Difference Between Fake & Real Leather Bags

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Leather accessories have always been a sign of luxury and excellence – bags especially. Whether you’re a guy or a gal – owning a leather bag pretty much means you’re doing well for yourself and you know how to enjoy finer things in life. However, as is usually the case with the finer and slightly more expensive thing in life – it’s quite easy to stumble upon a fake. Now, back in the days, it was quite easy to spot a faux leather bag or a jacket from a mile away.

But, as the days and years went by, it has become increasingly more difficult to tell a difference between genuine and faux leather. The knockoffs have just gotten too good. That’s why we’ve decided to help. Today, we’re going to share with you a few tips on how you can tell a fake leather bag from a real one. So, without further ado – let’s get started.

1. Check The Label

Source: theschoolofsatchel.com

The easiest thing you can do is to check the label on the bag and see whether you’re dealing with real or faux leather. Now, many think that labels aren’t reliable, as you can just print whatever, but that’s not the case. You can’t print made from marble and put that label on a cotton t-shirt.

There are rules and regulations in regards to labels, so you may feel free to trust whatever’s on there. Genuine leather manufacturers will always print “genuine leather” or something similar on their labels to make sure you know what you’re buying. On the other hand, faux leather bags will either avoid labels altogether or just print something like “vegan materials” onto their labels.

2. Take A Look At The Edges

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A great way to tell a real leather bag from a fake one is to take a look at the edges. If you happen to notice remarkable, smooth edges, that’s usually the case you’re dealing with a fake. Real, genuine products can’t have edges that smooth and perfect. More often than not, the edges of a real product will either be hidden or they’ll be visibly coarse and rough to the touch. So, if you can’t see them from the outside, open up the bag and take a look inside and if the edges are rough and course – you have yourself a genuine product.

3. Visually Inspect The Surface

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Next up, according to emporium-italy.com, you can tell a lot about a bag just by looking at it. You can pretty much see whether that’s a high-quality product or not just by visual inspection. The same thing applies when it comes to identifying real stuff from the fake one. Take a closer look at the surface of the handbag and tell us what you see.

You see pores and all kinds of patterns, right? Well, take another look. Do those patterns and pores seem “too perfect” to you? If they do, that means you’re dealing with a fake. Real leather isn’t uniform in looks. The pores and patterns on the surface should be imperfect and uneven when you’re looking at a genuine product.

4. Physically Inspect The Surface

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Just like any other skin, the leather used for handbags and other accessories is elastic and it will change colour once your press hard on it or stretch it. So, another test you can do to determine whether you’re dealing with a real product or a faux one is to do the “thumb press test”.

This test is rather simple. All you have to do is press semi-hard on the material and stretch it. When you press on the genuine skin, you can expect to see some wrinkling and discolouration and once you release the pressure – it will revert to the original state. The fake one will stay unaffected by this test at all times.

5. Spill Some Water On It

Source: looksgud.in

This is another neat trick you can do, but you’ll need water on hand, which can be tricky if you’re in the store shopping for a new handbag. Spill some water on the material, not a lot, just a smidge and wait for a few moments. The genuine leather will start soaking up the water in just a few moments.

As far as the fakes go – the water will just stay on top until it evaporates or someone cleans it up. If you don’t have water on hand, you can perform this test with saliva as well, but we really wouldn’t recommend spitting on things you don’t own – especially in the current situation.

6. The Burn Test

Source: looksgud.in

Before we move on any further, we just want to say, we don’t advise that you do this, even though it’s a great way to tell real leather from the fake one. As you might guess, if you guess incorrectly and the “tested” material turns out to be fake, you’re going to severely damage the handbag.

Now, to the test. You bring the open flame near the material, the real one won’t catch on fire and the fake one will start to melt or burn. You may take this risk if you own the bag, however, we really wouldn’t advise doing this in a store. You could damage an item or even worse, start a fire.

7. Smell It

Source: looksgud.in

Now, the smell test isn’t the most reliable one, because the manufacturers of fake handbags have found a way to mask the synthetic smell, but, in case you’re not dealing with a “quality” fake – you can try and do this. Essentially, all you have to do is take a whiff. Real, genuine leather will have that recognizable “leathery” smell and the fake one will either be odourless or will smell like plastic.

8. Check The Whole Bag

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Simply by looking at the overall quality of a handbag, you can pretty much tell whether you’re dealing with a real thing or a fake. Take the bag in place it on the table or any other surface. If the bag folds or loses shape in any major way – that’s a fake. A genuine product will be sturdy and will keep the desired shape even when it’s lying on the table. As you can see, there is more than one way to tell a genuine leather handbag from a faux one. Hopefully, our instructions were clear and you’ll be able to tell a fake from now on.