LEATHER CLEANING AND TREATMENT

The luxurious and beautiful look of leather is second to none and nobody wants to see their beautiful leather items lose their good looks. 

As experts in leather, here at  @leatherbags_and_shoes, we often get asked if it is possible to fix cracked or scratched leather. The answer is not always straightforward depending on the condition of your leather items, be it bags, shoes, leather sofas or leather car seat covers. 

Today we have come up with a special article on how you can clean and treat leather products, especially seat covers and furniture like sofas. 

Below is a step-by-step guide on how you can clean and treat leather.

 

1. Vacuum cleaning: Use a vacuum cleaner to remove dust and other litters stuck in your car seats or sofas. 

2. Stains and odors: Once your car seats or sofas are free from dust and litters, you need to remove any stains from ink, blood, or oil and greases on leather surfaces. For this you have to use a leather cleaner which can be bought from leather shops or online leathers stores. And if you can't find one, you can mix a DIY leather cleaning solutions which is explained below. 

 i. Mix a 50/50 vinegar and water solution and rub it on the leather surfaces in a circular motion to lift the dirt out of the natural fibers.

ii. For white leather, use:-

 a/ Olive oil and Vinegar: 

Mix a half (1/2 ) cup olive oil and a quarter (1/4) of vinegar in a spraybottle. Spritz it on the stain, let it sit for five minutes and wipe till the stain is removed. 

 b/ Toothpaste:

 Wet the stained area with a damp cloth without soaking the area and then apply non-gel toothpaste on the stain. 

Then use a soft toothbrush to scrub away the stain. Then finally wipe the area with a dry clean cloth. 

 c/ Baking soda or Cornstarch: 

This is best for removing oil or grease stains where you sprinkle baking soda or Cornstarch on the stained spot. Rub it gently and let it sit for a few hours or overnight. The Cornstarch or baking soda will absorb the oil or grease and finally wipe off the powder with a clean, dry and soft cloth.

d/ Rubbing alcohol: 

     Use this to remove ink stains from leather by dipping a cotton swab in rubbing alcohol and gently blotting the stain. Dry the stained area with a blow dryer. 

e/ Rubbing alcohol and water:

     Use this to remove mold and mildew by dampening a cloth in the alcohol solution and wipe on the affected area.

3. If your leather has cracks,  follow these steps:

• Once you've cleaned  your leather and it's dry, use a very fine sandpaper (msasa) to smooth out leather cracks. Avoid use of a gritty sandpaper as it can leave scratches and therefore make sure to use only the finest 600 grit sandpaper.
  
  
  Once the cracks are smoothened enough, use a dry cloth to wipe off any dust.
• Leather filler: Use a palette knife to spread the filler over the cracks. Make sure to use enough filler to completely fill the cracks.
• Remove excess with the other side of the palette knife to thoroughly scrap away all excess filler
• Let the leather dry in a ventilated area and avoid direct sunlight or dust.
• If there are still cracks visible, you can apply leather dye that matches your leather color.
• And finally apply finally apply leather sealer to the cracked area to protect and condition the dye and preventing any further damage.

4. Finally on the treated and cleaned leather, apply a high quality leather conditioning cream to moisturise and nourish and prevent leather from color change. A good conditioning cream will keep the fibre supple and provide some protection to the surface of the leather.

Thank for spending your time reading this article, let's make sure we protect our leather from stains, cracks, dusts etc by frequently applying leather nourishment cream to our leather products as treating and cleaning leather items is a difficult and tedious process. 

You can get a leather nourishment cream by calling 0687-75-15-72 or visit our IG page @leatherbags_and_shoes .