Mesh vs. Leather Chair: Which Is Best for You?

Whether you’re buying an office chair for its looks, its comfort, or its breathability, the material you select is incredibly important. You’ve decided that you’re not really into vinyl chairs nor fabric-covered ones. Instead, your decision has come down to mesh versus leather, but which is the right choice?

Mesh office chairs are breathable and often more affordable, but the timeless appeal of leather is also very appealing. Ultimately, the office chair material you choose will come down to factors such as budget, taste, and chair durability. 

In this guide, we’re here to make your choice even clearer. First, we’ll talk about all the features of mesh and leather office chairs respectively. Then we’ll compare and contrast the two materials, go over the pros and cons, and provide some tips on how to find the right office chair for you! 

Mesh Chairs Overview

To make a mesh office chair, it might be laced, knitted, or woven. The result is a fabric that’s soft against your body yet taut enough that if you lean back in your chair, you won’t tumble right out. The mesh can even cradle your body, which adds a layer of ergonomic support to these office chairs.

As you go about your day, air travels into and out of the mesh. If you sweat, the particles of perspiration also have the freedom to move so you stay cooler. You don’t get that same benefit with a fabric office chair. The sweat lingers in the fabric, becoming stinky. If you’re in a professional office setting, the last thing you want is odors coming from your chair. It’s embarrassing!

Mesh office chairs are well-suited to those who work long hours and need a comfortable workspace. Gamers who might get worked up on stream should consider a mesh chair as well. These chairs also make sense for anyone living or working in warm, humid environments such as the southern United States.

Want some examples of mesh chairs? The Herman Miller Aeron is among the best-known. This chair is covered in mesh from the seatback to the seat itself. Herman Miller uses its own 8Z Pellicle mesh material for the award-winning Aeron. Pellicle fabric is tauter at the edges of the chair and more malleable in the center to provide support and comfort to your mid and upper back.

The Humanscale Diffrient World is another mesh office chair that’s worth talking about. It comes in a solid color scheme. The flexible mesh moves with the shape and weight of your body, giving you the flexibility to work or play how you want to while still being supported all day. A tri-panel backrest lends the Diffrient World solid ergonomics.  

Check out our full guide on the Best Mesh Gaming Chairs

Leather Chairs Overview

If you want to tell the world that you mean business, a leather office chair has a sleek, professional air to it. Yet admittedly, not all leather is created equally, not even close. Here are the different types of leather that you’ll come across as you browse leather office chairs. 

Faux Leather

Some manufacturers call it artificial leather and others faux leather. Either way, don’t be fooled. This isn’t leather at all, but synthetic material. Outside of office chairs, faux leather appears all the time in footwear, clothing, and furniture.

Faux leather is either polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyurethane (PU). PU leather features a flexible polymer and backing made of materials such as shredded real leather, polyester, or cotton. It has a realistic leather look that doesn’t quite match up to the real deal but is more comparable. Even the feel of PU leather is like real leather, at least to an extent.

By tufting, gathering, and stitching PU leather, it has wrinkles and breaks that lend it further realism. It won’t peel or crack since it’s plastic-free. 

For the eco-friendly people out there, manufacturing PU leather doesn’t produce dioxins, which are chemical compounds that could have an effect on your reproductive, endocrine, immune system, and nervous system health, says the World Health Organization.

PVC or vinyl faux leather has polyester backing and vinyl coating with phthalic acid or other plasticizers. When the vinyl melts, the fibers are sealed and thus waterproof. Compared to PU leather, it’s easier to clean PVC faux leather since it’s mostly plastic. Yet this material will crack, and not in an appealing way, either. 

If you’ve ever sat on a leather surface and it sticks to your thighs when you try to get up, that’s PVC faux leather.  

Whether it’s PU leather or PVC leather, faux leather is affordable since it uses less real leather during production if any at all. For those on a tight budget who are shopping for an office chair, faux leather is tempting. 

Bonded Leather

One of the most common types of leather that you’ll find in an office chair is bonded leather. This is essentially a mixture of real leather and synthetic materials such as polyurethane or PVC vinyl.

Bonded leather is one of the most prevalent materials that you’ll see in office chairs because they offer a very similar look and feel to genuine leather, but significantly less expensive since it’s made up of only about 10%-20% genuine leather.

While bonded leather chairs are common, and generally fairly high quality, the durability isn’t nearly as good as genuine leather. Over time, you might find that the leather starts to peel, leaving you with the polyurethane/fabric underneath, which is not visually appealing at all. You can expect to replace these chairs every 4-7 years depending on how well you maintain them.

Nubuck Leather

There’s no question about it, nubuck leather is the real deal. This top-grain leather comes from cattle. The outside, which is also known as its grain side, undergoes buffing and/or sanding so the fibers have a nap texture. 

In fabrics, a nap isn’t taking a snooze, but rather, it’s that intentional fuzziness that you can feel on moleskin, velvet, and some leathers. That’s why nubuck feels more like velvet than traditional leather. 

This leather comes in lots of colors and it’s quite durable thanks to its thickness and strength, especially when compared to suede. If it gets wet, the color of the leather will change until it’s dried. You also have to be careful not to scratch nubuck, because the damage will be visible. 

Since it’s legit leather, nubuck leather will be costly, especially when compared to artificial leather. 

Corrected-Grain Leather

Office chairs are also available in corrected-grain leather, a type of top-grain leather. First, let’s explain what that is. Top-grain leather is made from animal hide, which is the animal’s outer surface. It’s sanded or buffed for a consistent grain pattern throughout. 

Corrected-grain leather is buffed or sanded more than top-grain leather since it tends to have more blemishes. Then the manufacturer will emboss a faux grain atop the leather for uniformity. So while it’s still real leather, it doesn’t look as much like it. It’s also rougher to the touch, but that’s mostly because corrected-grain leather is lower grade. 

Corrected-grain leather isn’t going to come cheap, although it might be priced less than nubuck leather. That’s a decision for the office chair manufacturer. 

Full-Grain Leather

The most premium office chairs use full-grain leather, which is natural, authentic leather through and through. It’s coated in aniline, a vegetable dye that’s a sealant and colorant. The longer you use leather furniture such as chairs, the more apparent the natural patina becomes. Yet this leather is absolutely the costliest. 

Check out our guide on the Best Leather Gaming Chairs

Mesh vs Leather Chairs: What’s the Difference?

You’re now clearer on what constitutes a mesh versus a leather office chair. Next, let’s delve into the differences between these two chair materials. This section will help you start to get a better idea of which chair material might work for your needs. 

Comfort

Sitting down in a mesh versus a leather office chair is a totally different experience. Mesh is pliable yet somewhat firm whereas high-quality leather will feel like butter. Your body will melt into it like it was always meant to be there.

Ergonomics can increase comfort, so we have to discuss those as well. While both mesh and leather office chairs will include ergonomic features such as height adjustments, tilting, armrest adjustments, rocking, and more, we’re only talking about the ergonomics of the materials themselves.

As we mentioned in an earlier section, mesh is ergonomic by design. Mesh office chairs like the Herman Miller Aeron feature fabric that’s tighter on either side and then looser in the middle. Although that’s not a feature you’ll find in every mesh chair, it goes to show how mesh can support your back for good posture.

Leather doesn’t really have the same effect. From the edges to the middle of a leather-backed office chair, the tension is usually the same. A contoured chair back underneath the leather can encourage better posture, but that’s not really the material doing that.

Another area of comfort is how breathable your office chair is. Mesh is superior in the breathability department with great airflow throughout. Whether your chair is made almost entirely of mesh or only has strategically-placed mesh panels, sweat and air can move as needed.

Don’t discount leather though! It can breathe, so to speak. After all, leather comes from cowskin, which has pores that would allow air to move provided the original quality of the leather isn’t altered too much. For example, full-grain leather would be a lot more breathable than corrected-grain leather since it’s buffed to remove the cowskin’s original pores and then chemically treated.

Is leather as breathable as mesh? Not at all, but it is a breathable period. 

Durability

If you’re going to spend $300 to $1,000+ on an office chair (in the case of a Herman Miller), then you want to ensure it’s made of fabrics that will last. Between the two, leather is more durable. 

Mesh can strain from use. When the material begins fraying, there’s no way to really fix it. That’s why mesh has a lifespan of about eight years. If you take really good care of your office chair, then you could possibly squeeze 10 years out of it. 

About a decade of chair ownership will allow you to more than get the value of your money. Yet leather can last for more than 100 years. If you buy a high-quality leather office chair, you might never have to replace it. 

Maintenance

Mesh doesn’t clean easily since it has all those openings throughout. If you wipe over your mesh office chair with a paper towel or a napkin, all you’ll end up with are small paper particles stuck in the mesh. Instead of making your cleanup job easier, you made it harder accidentally. 

Using a portable vacuum cleaner attachment on a mesh office chair can suck up dirt and dust, but it won’t do anything for surface stains. You’d need a microfiber cloth for that. You can’t apply elbow grease when cleaning mesh, even if you use a microfiber cloth. If you do, you could fray the mesh.

Cleaning leather is easier than it looks. You need only dish soap and warm water. You can use a wet paper towel on leather since the material won’t tear the paper. Make sure you wring out your paper towel or microfiber cloth, then wipe over the dirty areas. This will remove dust, dirt, and stains.

When you’re finished, wipe over the wet areas of the leather with a dry soft cloth or paper towel until you don’t see any moisture. 

Aesthetics

Whether mesh or leather is more aesthetically pleasing to you will come down to personal preference. For some people, the simplicity and modernity of a mesh office chair will be right up their alley. Chairs like these fit into office environments exceptionally well. 

Leather office chairs aren’t large, thick, clunky chairs like some people might envision. As an example, the Gates genuine leather executive chair with fine-grain Italian leather has some plush padding, but it’s a sleek, streamlined office chair made for hours of comfortably working on your latest projects.

You don’t see leather chairs in the office as much, that’s for sure, mostly due to their high price. If yours is a real leather chair, then using it at work could exemplify your status.  

Price

We’ve touched on the price of leather throughout this guide, but compared to mesh, which is the more expensive material? Well, that depends on the chair manufacturer. You can buy a mesh chair for as low as $75 or $100 all the way up to $1,695 for a Herman Miller. 

For a real leather office chair, expect to pay somewhere in the ballpark of $300 to $600 or higher. Faux leather chairs are often far less costly, retailing for around $100 to $200. 

Mesh vs Leather Chairs: Pros and Cons

You might still need a hand selecting between a mesh or leather office chair at this point. If so, then this pros and cons section should help you. 

Mesh Chair Pros

• Mesh is relatively inexpensive, especially when compared to real leather such as full-grain or nubuck leather.
• The breathability of mesh will keep your workdays easy and breezy and make your chair less smelly.
• Mesh is somewhat ergonomic, supporting your upper and mid back for a comfy sitting experience. 

Mesh Chair Cons

• Mesh can fray, so its durability is not that good.
• The material is not only tough to clean, but it doesn’t feel great on bare skin either.
• The frame surrounding a mesh chair can be small and uncomfortable depending on the office chair you buy. 

Leather Chair Pros

• Leather, especially the real stuff, is a status symbol. 
• The durability of leather is even greater than mesh.
• Cleaning leather is easy and fast so you can get back to work sooner. 

Leather Chair Cons

• There are all sorts of different types of leather, some of which are better quality than others.
• Faux leather, especially the PVC stuff, will probably not hold up as long as a mesh office chair would.
• Real leather is higher-quality but far more expensive than mesh. 

Tips for Choosing a Mesh Office Chair

If you’re gravitating more towards a mesh office chair at this point, these tips will help you find a fantastic chair you’ll be happy to use for years to come. 

Be Willing to Spend a Bit More Money 

Although mesh office chairs can be inexpensive, unless your budget is extremely tight, you shouldn’t always buy the cheapest chair you can find. The mesh in your chair is going to be lower quality compared to what you’d get if you’d pay more. 

Make Sure the Frame Fits You

Mesh chair users often complain about the frame, which can be narrow and constricting. If you can, before you buy your office chair, visit a store or showroom and sit in it. If the chair only comes in one size and you don’t fit comfortably, then keep searching. Should the chair be available in multiple sizes (such as the Herman Miller Aeron), then size up!

Test the Mesh Firmness

Besides the quality of the mesh, how much money you spend on an office chair also determines whether the mesh is looser or rigid. An overly stiff chair won’t feel great to sit in while one that’s too loose will sag and look unappealing. Online photos of the chair can only tell you so much. You need to at least see the office chair to get a feel for its mesh. 

Tips for Choosing a Leather Office Chair

Shopping for a leather office chair isn’t as easy as buying a mesh one, but the following tips will guide you. 

Know the Kind of Leather You Want

If you’re looking for a faux leather office chair, you should be able to find those anywhere. The real search begins when you decide you want a nubuck leather or full-grain leather chair. You’ll have to dig deep into chair listings online and visit a lot of stores to ensure the leather is legit. Accept no imitations! 

Have a Budget 

Leather can get expensive fast, which shouldn’t be a surprise to you by now. You’ll need a sizable budget if you decide that a real leather chair is best for you. If your budget isn’t so big, try corrected-grain leather or faux leather. 

Try Before You Buy 

Just as we recommended, if you’re buying a mesh office chair, you should see a leather office chair and sit in it before committing to it. Since these chairs are at least twice as expensive as mesh office chairs in some cases, you want to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth. 

Mesh vs Leather Chairs: Which Is the Best for You? 

Now that you have all the facts, it’s time to make your decision. Depending on which factors you prioritize in an office chair, you can’t really go wrong with leather or mesh. For those who live in a warm climate or work up a sweat when working or playing, a mesh office chair breathes better than a leather one. 

If you want a softer, plusher chair that fits you like a glove, then you should buy a leather chair. Do keep in mind that the suppleness of leather varies depending on if yours is real leather or infused with plastic and chemicals to make it look nice.

Your budget should also influence your decision. As we’ve mentioned, leather office chairs tend to cost more than mesh, but not always. A Herman Miller mesh chair rivals even the highest-price leather office chairs. 

Conclusion 

When shopping for an office chair, mesh and leather are among the two most durable, appealing material choices. Both materials can be rather expensive, but the high-quality sitting experience you get for your money makes the cost worthwhile. We hope this article has helped you choose your next office chair!