Green Innovation: Solvent-free Leather Reshapes Cars, Furniture and Interior Space

At a time when environmental protection and health needs are upgrading, solvent-free leather is rapidly penetrating into the automotive, furniture and interior decoration fields with its lack of toxic solvents (such as DMF, toluene, etc.), low VOC emissions and excellent physical properties, becoming a sustainable solution to replace traditional PVC leather and solvent-based PU leather.

Automotive interior: dual evolution of environmental protection and performance
The automotive industry, especially new energy vehicles, has strict requirements on the environmental protection of interior materials. Solvent-free polyurethane leather (such as Gaoming Shangang's BPU zero solvent leather) achieves zero organic solvent addition through 100% solid content polyurethane process, significantly reduces odor and formaldehyde release in the car, and meets strict VOC standards. At the same time, its weather resistance (no cracking from -40℃ to 80℃) and high wear resistance (no cracking after 100,000 folds) extend the life of the seat. For example, NIO ES6 uses BASF Haptex® solvent-free synthetic leather, which takes into account low carbon emissions and anti-yellowing performance, improving driving safety and comfort.

Furniture manufacturing: from "no odor" to functionalization
The furniture industry has long faced the problem of leather odor - 70% of sofa odor comes from solvent residues in traditional PVC/PU leather. Solvent-free leather is based on health and environmental protection, and is used by companies such as Weiti Furniture on non-contact surfaces of sofas and soft beds to replace PVC leather. Its advantages are:

Physical performance upgrade: high peel strength and elasticity, prevent collapse and deformation, and can be washed and cleaned;

Safety certification: passed SGS hydrolysis resistance and flame retardant tests (such as BS5852 standard, extinguished immediately when away from fire), inhibiting bacterial growth.

BASF Haptex® 2.0 gives furniture designers more freedom to achieve a combination of complex textures and high durability.

Interior decoration: flame retardant and structural innovation
In home decoration scenes such as background walls and soft ceilings, flame-retardant solvent-free home decoration leather solves the defects of traditional materials through a multi-layer composite structure. For example:

Base fabric layer: microfiber non-woven fabric coated with environmentally friendly flame-retardant impregnation layer, providing fireproof and aging resistance on the back;

Surface layer: polyurethane + lactic acid resin mixed fireproof layer, combined with suede raised decorative layer (0.5-2mm diamond/square texture), taking into account both three-dimensional beauty and anti-dust accumulation characteristics5.
This type of design avoids interlayer peeling caused by organic solvents and improves sound insulation, suitable for spaces with high humidity or large temperature differences.

Future trends: material revolution drives scene integration
The lightweight and customizable characteristics of solvent-free leather are driving its innovation in cross-domain applications. For example, the same material can simultaneously meet the environmental consistency requirements of car seats, home sofas and wall soft bags. As the "dual carbon" goals deepen, its low-energy production process and recyclability will further expand the market boundaries.

From car seats to living room background walls, a "solvent-free" revolution is transforming the environmental protection potential of chemical materials into a daily sense of security that is within reach.