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Traditionally with wallets, animal-sourced leather used to lead the pack. But that’s no longer necessary. If you’re looking to avoid leather from animal sources, but still want a sleek and tough wallet, you still have plenty of animal-friendly options out there thanks to vegan leather, which is made without using animal products. Here’s what to consider when shopping around for the best vegan wallet or leather-alternative wallet.
Vegan Leather Wallet Buying Guide
Keep the below in mind when choosing your next vegan leather wallet.
Material:Texture-wise, it can be hard to even tell the difference to the average person. Synthetic leather still feels tough, and can keep up with daily use for years. Companies have gotten creative with renewable resources too, creating wallets from things like old tires and different types of plants, fruits and vegetables.
Cork is also an excellent and animal-free material. It grows on trees, is completely renewable, recyclable, and can be harmlessly harvested every year, much like shearing sheep for wool. Cork doesn’t crack or crumble either, is naturally waterproof, and durable against scratches and stains. You can clean it gently with regular dish soap and warm water, and it’s generally more affordable than real leather.
Features and Design: Just because a wallet isn’t leather doesn’t mean it needs to cut down on the features you want. Plenty of vegan wallets have RFID-blocking features to prevent data theft, but don’t overlook the basic functions of a wallet either. That includes things like practical pockets and slots to hold the cards, bills and coins you carry, or a clear window to always have your ID visible. Even if you’d rather keep cards with personal information hidden, there are some clever designs out there to help with this, like tabs to pull, which only bring out your cards when they’re needed.
Stitching:While the material matters, the stitching is very literally what holds it all together. Cheap stitching can come unraveled with time, breaking down the overall structure of the wallet and rendering it unreliable and useless.
Packaging: To really take that extra step in cutting down on waste, sustainable packaging can make a big difference when considering the thousands of people who are ordering the product.
The Best Vegan and Leather Wallets
We found the coolest vegan leather and leather-alternative wallets you can buy online right now.
