Desserto® Cactus Leather

Technical Details for Desserto black and white:

• Backing: Woven; 55% Polyester / 45% Cotton
• Contains 35% cactus; 65% BIO PU (56% +/- 5% total bio mass content)
• Weight: 610 g/m
• Tensile Strength (along): 650 N/5cm
• Tensile Strength (across): 630 N/5cm
• Extension (along): 21%
• Extension (across): 15%
• Tear Strength (along): 32 N
• Tear Strength (across): 23 N
• Adhesion (along): 65 N/5cm
• Adhesion (across): 60 N/5cm
• Abrasion Resistence: 125,000 cycles

Technical Details for Desserto toffee brown:

• Backing: Knit, 50% recycled polyester / 50% recycled cotton
• Contains 20% cactus; 80% PU
• Weight: 650 +/- 10% g/m
• Tensile Strength (along): 90 lbf
• Tensile Strength (across): 70 lbf
• Extension (along): 40%
• Extension (across): 110%
• Tear Strength (along): 90 lbf
• Tear Strength (across): 70 lbf
• Adhesion (along): 3%
• Adhesion (across): 3%
• CFFA -6a Cold Crack: -10°C without crack
• Bally Flexing Resistance /Min 95: 30,000 cycles
• Abrasion Resistance: 50,000 cycles
• W-Flex: 15 hours
• Seam Fatigue: 1,500 cycles

Technical Details for Desserto cactus green and maroon:

• Thickness: 1.0 mm (+/-10%)
• Backing: Knit, 50% recycled polyester / 50% recycled cotton
• Contains 20% cactus; 80% PU
• Weight: 540 +/- 10% g/m
• Tensile Strength (along): 120 lbf
• Tensile Strength (across): 100 lbf
• Extension (along): 63%
• Extension (across): 116%
• Tear Strength (along): 21 lbf
• Tear Strength (across): 25 lbf
• CFFA -6a Cold Crack: -23°C without crack
• Outdoor: 300 hours with no significant changes
• Bally Flexing Resistance /Min 95: 368,800 cycles
• Abrasion Resistance: 75,000 cycles
• W-Flex: 69 hours
• Seam Fatigue: 3,000 cycles

Desserto cactus leather is a versatile material that can be used to create a wide variety of products. Some of the more common uses include:

• Handbags and accessories
• Footwear
• Apparel
• Furniture and interiors
• Athletic gear
• Automotive interiors

Notable brands that have used Desserto cactus leather in their products include Fossil, H&M, Balenciaga, Adidas and BMW. You can read more about these collaborations here.

Desserto is designated as a Certified Bio-based Product by the U.S. Department of Agriculture with 65% of its contents coming from certified bio-based cactus. Approximately three cactus leaves are used to create one linear meter of Desserto material and the cactus plant itself is not damaged in the harvesting process. This means that the same cactus plant can be reused every 6-8 months.

Water Consumption: Approximately 200 litres of water are used to grow one kilogram of cactus biomass, which is about five time less than most other crops which require an average of 1,000 litres of water to grow the same quantity.

Energy Consumption: Only 34.33 megaJoules of energy are used to produce one square metre of Desserto cactus leather, which is significantly less than the 335.84 megaJoules of energy required to produce one square metre of animal leather and the 92.93 megaJoules of energy required to produce one square metre of polyurethane (PU) synthetic leather.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Desserto production emits 1.39 kilograms of CO2 equivalent per square metre, which is three times less than PU synthetic leather (4.81 KG of CO2 equivalent per square metre) and 20 times less than animal leather (27.30 KG of CO2 equivalent per square metre).

Desserto's third-party sustainability certifications include:

• DAkkS German Accreditation
• USDA Organic
• BCS Öko-Garantie
• SAGARPA Organic Certification
• REACH Compliance

Desserto is a low maintenance material that can be easily cleaned with a dry or slightly damp lint-free cloth. It is best to avoid cleaning with solvents such as alcohol, acetone, paint thinner, bleach, oils, vinegar, waxes, silicones, armor all, stove (continental soda) or detergent cleaners, as these will cause permanent damage to the material.