Artificial leather

Porous artificial leather with a non-woven microfibre backing is a popular choice for clothing, and is comfortable to wear.

[7] Materials to make vegan leather can be derived from fungi, yeasts and bacterial strains using biotechnological processes.

It gained its widest use in Germany during the Second World War in place of leather, which under wartime conditions was rationed.

Presstoff could be used in almost every application normally filled by leather, excepting items like footwear that were repeatedly subjected to flex wear or moisture.

It was made of cloth surfaced with a mixture of nitrocellulose, camphor oil, alcohol, and pigment, embossed to look like leather.

The fabric can be made of natural or synthetic fiber which is then covered with a soft polyvinyl chloride (PVC) layer.

[11] When PVC ends up in a landfill it does not decompose like genuine leather and can release dangerous chemicals into the water and soil.

[14] Some artificial leathers may have traces of restricted substances, like paint ingredient butanone oxime, according to a study by the FILK Freiberg Institute.