Caring For Leather Furniture

Editor: bjennings

This guide will help you keep your leather furniture looking as new and elegant as the day you bought it.

Introduction

Leather furniture has always possessed a certain mystique about it -- a beautiful, sleek, and contemporary quality that adds style to any room. Having a surface that is relatively stain resistant and repellant is a welcome bonus. Nevertheless, leather furniture does require maintenance to keep it looking clean and new long after it was bought. Here are some simple steps you can take to keep your furniture looking pristine.

Basic Tips

• Before using any cleaning product, make sure to test an inconspicuous spot to see if there are any unforeseeable problems.

• General cleaning of leather requires only dry-cloth dusting and vacuuming.

• Do not put leather furniture in direct sunlight, this can cause color fading.

• Wipe up all standing liquids from leather immediately.

• Don’t soak stains heavily in water, this will probably do more damage than good.

• Do not use abrasive cleaners, ammonia water, furniture polish, solvents, or varnish.

• For oil-based stains (butter, grease) wipe off excess and let the rest dissipate on its own.

• For minor scratches, use a chamois to buff the scratch, moisten lightly with water if necessary.

Quick Cleaning Process

Almost all leather furniture has been finished. The following steps are to treat/clean finished leather furniture. Make sure your furniture has been finished before following the instructions below.

• Place a small amount of gentle, moisturizing soap on a damp cloth. Bring to a lather.

• Rub the cloth on the leather, try not to allow too much water to saturate the leather and wipe away all standing water.

• Wipe away lather with fresh damp cloth. Do not rinse clean.

• Polish leather with a dry towel. Make sure no water remains.

• Treat leather with a conditioner after the leather is dry completely.

As for this final step, it really only needs to be done twice a year. There is little need to condition your leather furniture more than twice a year.

Categories: Leather | Home Improvement | Do-It-Yourself | Furniture