Sheepskin vs Synthetic: The Hidden Chemicals in Your Home
You're standing in front of two throws that look almost identical. One is forty dollars and the tag says polyester, acrylic, faux fur. The other costs more and the tag says sheepskin, and you're trying to figure out if the difference is real or just the price of a nicer-sounding word. You flip the cheaper one over looking for anything else the tag might tell you. It doesn't tell you much. It's the same story across our European sheepskin collection pages, where every listing names the tanning process instead of leaning on the word natural.
That gap, between what a material is called and what it actually is, is where most home purchases get decided without anyone meaning to decide them that way. Synthetic and natural aren't just two textures. They're two different manufacturing stories, and only one of them tends to get told on the label. This guide covers what's actually in a synthetic material, how a natural hide like sheepskin is made instead, and where that difference matters most in a home. For families comparing options for a nursery, our sheepskin for babies and kids collection is where that comparison usually starts. For the rest of the house, our sheepskin wellness products carry the same standard through every room.
What "Synthetic" Actually Means in Your Home
Synthetic simply means made from petroleum-based plastic instead of grown or raised material. Polyester, acrylic, and the "faux" fur and sheepskin sold in most stores are all forms of plastic, spun into fiber and woven to resemble something natural. That resemblance is the whole business model. It's built to look like the real thing at a fraction of the cost, and it does that job well from a few feet away.
What it can't do is behave like the real thing once it's in your home. Plastic fiber doesn't breathe, doesn't regulate temperature, and doesn't come from a process anyone has to disclose in detail, because there isn't a natural process to describe. There's a factory, a petroleum feedstock, and a chemical finish applied afterward to get the color and texture right.
What's Really Inside a Synthetic Material
Most synthetic home textiles carry three things a shopper rarely hears named. Volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, are released from the plastic and the adhesives used to bond it, and they're the reason a new synthetic rug or throw often carries a chemical smell for the first few weeks in a home. Flame retardants are added to meet flammability standards, since untreated plastic burns differently than untreated wool, and those retardants have been linked in independent research to hormone disruption with prolonged skin contact. Microplastics shed from synthetic fiber every time it's washed, worn, or simply used, since the fiber itself is degrading plastic from the day it's made.
None of this shows up on a tag that says faux sheepskin or plush throw. It shows up in what the material is made of, and a shopper has to already know to look for it.
How Sheepskin Is Different, By Process Not By Marketing
Sheepskin starts as a natural material, wool still rooted in the hide underneath it, and what happens after that determines whether it stays that way. Most sheepskin sold in the US is chrome-tanned, a fast, inexpensive process using heavy metal salts, which means a natural starting material can still end up carrying a chemical load by the time it reaches a shelf.
Ours is tanned with kefir and lactic acid instead, a process that takes weeks rather than days and uses no chrome and no synthetic dyes at any stage. The lanolin stays in the wool because nothing strips it out, which is part of why it holds heat without trapping it and stays soft against skin without anything added back afterward. There's no flame retardant applied, because wool is naturally slow to ignite on its own. There's no microplastic shedding, because there's no plastic in it to shed.
Our medical grade sheepskin mattress cover is held to an even stricter version of this standard, since a bassinet-grade claim has to hold up to more scrutiny than a general one
Side by Side, Room by Room
In a nursery, the difference is the one most parents notice fastest. A synthetic rug or crib liner can off-gas VOCs for weeks, right against a space where a baby spends most of their day. Our nursery rugs and play mats sit under a baby for hours at a stretch, which is exactly why the tanning process matters more here than almost anywhere else in the house.
In a space meant for rest, the same logic applies to how a material behaves, not just what it's made of. Plastic fiber traps heat and holds odor. Sheepskin releases heat as the body cools and resets by airing out on its own. That's part of what sits behind our anxiety-reducing sheepskin products, since a calming claim means little if the surface underneath it is synthetic.
And in a home with dogs, the comparison holds too. A synthetic dog bed sheds microplastic fiber with every wash and every scratch. A sheepskin dog bed doesn't shed that way, and it holds its shape through years of use instead of flattening the way synthetic fill does within a season.
Where the Wait Comes In
A kefir and lactic acid tanned hide takes weeks to finish, and we've never tried to make that sound faster than it is. Small batch production means the farms we work with are personally vetted, the tanning happens on its own timeline, and the finished piece reaches you when the process is actually done, not when a factory schedule says it should be. A synthetic version can be produced in a single day, in any quantity, because there's no living material and no natural process to wait on.
That wait is proof of something, not a delay to apologize for. It's also the reason a piece made this way tends to outlast several synthetic replacements instead of needing to be replaced itself.
Where This Started for Me
I saw both sides of this while I was living in Eastern Europe, long before East Perry existed. Sheepskin was simply what families around me used, tanned the traditional way, without the synthetic shortcuts that had already become standard back home. I brought my children up on both at different points, the real hide and the plastic version marketed to look like it, and the difference wasn't subtle once I knew what to look for.
That's the standard I built East Perry around. Not a softer label. A different process, named specifically enough that a family can check it for themselves.
Start With the One Surface That Matters Most
You don't need to replace every synthetic material in your home at once to feel the difference. Start with the surface your family touches the most, a rug, a throw, a bed for the dog, and let the rest follow once you've felt what a natural hide actually does. Explore East Perry's full sheepskin range here to see the process for yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is sheepskin actually different from faux sheepskin, or is it mostly marketing?
It's a different material entirely. Sheepskin is a natural hide with wool rooted in the leather underneath it. Faux sheepskin is synthetic fiber, usually polyester or acrylic, woven to resemble the same texture.
What are the main chemicals found in synthetic home textiles?
VOCs released from plastic fiber and adhesives, flame retardants added to meet flammability standards, and microplastic fibers that shed with washing and regular use.
Does natural sheepskin need flame retardant treatment?
No. Wool is naturally slow to ignite, so a properly tanned sheepskin hide doesn't require the flame retardant chemicals added to synthetic alternatives.
Is chrome-tanned sheepskin the same as synthetic?
No, but it isn't chemical-free either. Chrome tanning uses heavy metal salts on a natural hide. Kefir and lactic acid tanning, our process, uses organic acids instead, with no chrome and no synthetic dyes.
Where should I start if I want to reduce synthetic materials at home?
Start with whatever surface gets the most daily contact, a nursery rug, a bed, or a dog bed, since that's where the difference between natural and synthetic is felt fastest.