Sintetično usnje je na splošno razvrščen glede na uporabljeno sintetično smolo.
Prvi je PVC (polivinil klorid), katerih produkti po zgorevanju so, vodo, ogljikov dioksid in spojine, ki vsebujejo klor, nastaja celo plinast klor; gre za mešanico polivinilkloridne smole, mehčalo in druga sredstva za ujemanje, prevlečeni ali laminirani na tkanino, in izdelani z določenim procesom obdelave, da prebudijo materialne izdelke. Poleg tega, obstaja tudi dvostransko umetno usnje iz polivinilklorida s plastično plastjo na obeh straneh osnovnega materiala.
Druga vrsta je PE (polietilen), ki, ko popolnoma zgori, teoretično proizvaja le vodo in ogljikov dioksid.
Tretji in najpogostejši tip je PU (poliuretan), katerih produkti po popolnem zgorevanju vključujejo: vodo, ogljikov dioksid, dušik, and a small amount of nitrogen-containing compounds. Polyurethane leather is divided into dry polyurethane leather and wet polyurethane leather. Dry polyurethane synthetic leather is a multilayer structure made up of a solvent-based polyurethane resin solution that has evaporated to remove the solvent, and a multilayer film with a backing fabric. The wet polyurethane artificial leather is a multilayer structure with good air permeability and moisture permeability and continuous porous layers obtained by using solvent-based polyurethane resins and the film formation method in water.
Because of the different synthetic resin used in artificial leather, different kinds of substrate, different production methods, with or without foam and different uses, artificial leather can be divided into many kinds. Artificial leather is classified according to the synthetic resin used, production process and application.
