They don't give a lot of information about it, other than marketing drivel. There is REBONDED leather that is chopped up scraps, then reconstituted with a binder. Think of this as the leather equivalent to particle board. At that point, it all depends on how they did it and what binder they used. Could be decent, could be crap, but it's not hide leather.

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.la-z-boy.com/Collections/Renew-Recycled-Leather/

Its not clear what the renewed stuff is..no problem with leather...big problem is 20% leather and the rest vinyl mixed in....anyone know....

I think you are much better off purchasing a quality leather sofa. It will last and wear longer.

Renew leather at la-z-boy has a vinyl face on the outside with a leather backing (you don't see it on the furniture but if you ask to see a sample piece they can show you the leather backing on the samples in the store). The reason they call it "renew" is because that backing is made from ground up leather left over from the hide scraps not big enough to use on furniture covered in top grain leather. Instead of dumping it in a land fill somewhere and polluting the environment they recycle it in the "renew" leathers and use it as a strong backing (instead of the crappy fabric backings on bonded leathers). Vinyl is pretty similar strength-wise to leather but it won't naturally age/soften or have any of the natural beauty of a top grain leather. Real leather "breathes" and needs to be conditioned if it's in a dry area long enough but obviously the vinyl doesn't require special care so if you want low maintenance and a nice price point maybe it is the way to go. Cats don't touch leather so probably won't touch vinyl either, something about the feel of it and the fact that it's not easy to sink their claws in. I'm trying the same thing; switching to leather because of my cats. Good luck!

Oh, cats will rip vinyl AND leather. Trust me, I had four of the little furries and my DR chair set and LR recliner paid the price over the years.

Renew is junk, ours started falling apart after about 15 months. Have a look for yourself. On the bright side the cats did not penetrate the finish very much at all. But anywhere that moves started to flake.

Original post was 2012 it would be interesting to find out if the person actually bought it or not and what happened...

DO NOT BUY THIS CRAP. Us too. After 15-18 months the surface started to fail. La-Z-Boy lived up to their name when it comes to doing anything about it. They stuck to their "should have bout the extended warranty" schtick. No acknowledgement that their staff systematically misrepresented the product. I'd suggest buying anything anywhere but La-Z-Boy!

Assuming that was housed in an environmentally controlled area... That is ridiculous. If lazy boy won't do anything well I hope that's a chair are removable cushion because at least you could stick it in a truck take it over lazy boy and sit just outside of the store in a public and hold up a sign that says this is what your Lazy Boy Furniture will look like in 18 months.. I bet that would get some kind of attention.... Props call your local TV station.... They usually have advocates for stuff like this

I have the James sectional (3 yrs now) 4 dogs, it’s great! Wears incredible and cleans easy with cloth.
We had a different material from lazy boy and it didn’t hold up at all. I contacted corporate and they gave me full price to use and replace with my choice from them. They do stand up, but you need to get to the right person I guess.

Patti smith-did you get the Renew or Leather?

no even though we're not in that room as often and it doesn't get used hard I stayed away from anything that was labeled renewed or rebonded. All of my stuff...some of which is 15 years old is perfectly fine. My dad has some rebonded stuff and it's starting to flake off as you see in the pictures above. It's still comfortable at his house but it's starting to look like crap. So in this case I would recommend staying away from that stuff unless this is a temporary thing where you're buying some furniture for a few years and then you're going to junk it... and you can get the stuff real cheap.