Hume Internationale is the licensed skai® supplier in Australia and New Zealand. skai® is made in Germany by Continental, whose largest business is automotive interior materials, and the same coating and backing technology runs into the contract range.
Vinyl earns its reputation at the cheap end of it. A basic woven base that will not drape, a plasticiser that migrates until the surface hardens and cracks, and a topcoat that gives up under repeated disinfection. Every one of those is a construction decision rather than a property of the material.
skai® is built the other way. The backing is knitted rather than woven, so the material moves and upholsters like leather instead of fighting the frame. Sotega is phthalate free throughout, so there is no plasticiser to migrate out of it. And staynu®, a molecular surface seal, is what holds the topcoat through disinfectant, blood and urine.
The figures follow from the construction. Toronto EN runs to 300,000 Martindale against a commercial minimum of 30,000. Parotega NF is certified to B1. Tovega EN carries staynu and is specified into healthcare interiors worldwide for cleaning resistance.
Specified into cruise ships, hotels, restaurants, stadiums, hospitals, healthcare furniture and retail. The ranges below cover both the artificial leather and the upholstery vinyl. The artificial leather ranges are also collected on their own page.
