Breathability
What does breathability mean?
Breathability is a material’s ability to allow moisture vapour to pass through it. Materials that are highly breathable are more comfortable to wear, especially clothes and shoes. This is because moisture is transported away from the body, resulting in you sweating less.
Leather breathability
Leather’s breathability varies between different types of leather. Open-pored, sensitive leather is more breathable than heavily pigmented leather. Suede (or Nubuck leather) is the most breathable type of leather.
Several different factors play a role in leather quality. Leather’s breathability, along with its strength and resistance to dirt, is important and should be considered when choosing a type of leather. This is why leather is usually protected with a surface layer, which makes it less breathable.
Breathability of synthetic leather
Synthetic leather is a lot less breathable than real leather. Real leather that has been treated heavily is considerably more breathable than synthetic leather.
Sources (accessed 5th July 2022)
- https://www(.)leather-dictionary(.)com/index.php/Breathability_of_leather
- https://steelhorseleather(.)com/blogs/the-journal/does-leather-breathe
