We decided not to pursue the use of vegan leather out of multiple reasons. 

Fist of all, as long as the meat consumption is taking place, leather will always exist and be a by-product. Therefore not making it environmentally unfriendly. Its is vital though to know wherefrom the cows come from and how they are taken care of.

Second, the production of vegan or synthetic leather usually requires a lot of water for production and at the same time a lot of chemicals to produce, which then pollutes the water. 

Lastly, most often the leather substitutes have a large percentage of plastic components included and only a minimal of natural fibres. Resulting for them to have a rather short life-span, but also making them most often not fully biodegradable. 

This is why PINTU decided to work with vegetable tanned leather as it is the best approach to respect the environment.

FACT: Vegetable tanning until now only accounts for 15% of the global leather production.

Due to the high amounts of chemicals used in chrome leather it tends to neither wear well nor last very long and can crack after a few months of use. Vegetable leather on the other hand doesn’t crack or dry out and therefore has a very long lifespan. Due to the careful tanning process and the natural tannins, vegetable tanned leather develops a rich and beautiful patina, and actually gets better with time and use.

Vegetable leather requires specific skills to produce. Vegetable tanned leather takes up to two months to develop in a process that is mainly done by hand. It requires skilled craftsmen, patience and care, the tanning process uses no harmful chemicals. Unlike its chrome tanned counterpart which is cheap, quick and mass produced, typically requiring little skill and can be easily automated and achieved in one single day.

Lastly, chrome tanned leather is leather produced using a solution of chemicals, acids and salts to dye the hide. Chrome, like any heavy metal, is extremely toxic and environmentally damaging, thus creating wastewater leftovers that are very toxic and have a detrimental environmental impact, (especially in the third world). Vegetable tanned leather, using only natural tannins and has no negative environmental impact.

Our Ducles Sueños Dog Bed Series use fabrics from Mallorca, crafted with the traditional hand woven ancient artisan method. Their quality is one of the highest available on the market. From start to finish zero plastic, even the dog bed filling is 100% cotton filling instead of with the commonly used polyester filling.