Years ago, I spilled an entire pot of coffee on a turquoise dining chair upholstered in Ultrasuede, a fake leather. I blotted furiously at the chair with a dish towel before realizing I had no need to panic. The material had not absorbed a single drop.Ultrasuede and other fake leathers are engineered to mimic the look of animal hide, but they function like performance fabrics, offering durability, colorfastness, and — as I witnessed that day — superior cleanability. And they’ve come a long way from the sticky, peeling pleather diner booth seats you might remember. If you’ve shopped for a sofa or armchair recently, you’ve likely encountered a dizzying array of fake leathers. For now, most of the fake leather you’ll encounter when shopping for furniture is still made from plastic polymers. But that’s starting to change. Besides petroleum-based synthetic leathers, there are also bio-based leathers, which contain some percentage of plant material, as well as bio-fabricated leathers, which are grown in a lab, said Theanne Schiros, a professor of materials science at the Fashion Institute of Technology and a Columbia University research scientist. Many fake leathers advertise that they’re vegan or sustainable, or they highlight their apple, cactus, or mushroom origin. Below, we break down these three kinds of fake leather, how to choose the best one for your needs, and why you might want to opt for fake leather over real leather in the first place.