HOW TO CLEAN, PRESERVE, MAINTAIN AND RESTORE YOUR FINE LEATHER FURNITURE AND ALL ITEMS CRAFTED OF FINE LEATHER

Our most common customer concern about their leather furniture is how to clean it and maintain it.  Often customers get little bottles of commercial products when they buy their furniture, but when they are gone, resort to Windex, pledge, and other heavy duty cleaners formulated for everything but leather. 

Home leather furniture has different needs than automotive leather.  It is used more frequently, and often with children, in a more rugged manner.  Proper leather nourishment at least 2-4 times per year, with cleaning and dusting a few times a month are vital to maintain your furniture in new condition for generations.  Leather is a very durable, long lasting upholstery, and unlike cloth, can be repaired, Redyed, and kept looking like new indefinitely. 

If you cared enough to buy fine quality leather, you should care enough to use quality leather care products to actually nourish the hides, and not just sit on top and look slick and shiny.  

Our leather Rejuvenator is unique because it is not a commercial surface dressing.  It is not a petroleum distillate, silicone, wax, or other product that is just going to sit on top of your leather and look shiny.  It is actual nutrients that will be absorbed directly into the leather hide to nourish it, plump it, restore luxurious suppleness, and expel the years of dirt to the surface.

Rejuvenating your furniture or any item made with fine quality leather is an easy process.  Please carefully read directions before beginning application.  Use protective gloves and eyewear.   

Step 1. Vacuum the surface of the upholstered piece well or use a soft brush to remove large particles of dirt, food, crumbs, paying particular attention to seams, folds, and cracks.   

Step 2. Apply the Leather Rejuvenator liberally (about 2-4 oz. per seat, a seat is the cushion and the back) with a Sponge Brush or your hands; massaging the oil well into all the surfaces and natural folds of the leather, this puts natural ingredients, not harsh cleaner, back into the leather and forces out dirt.  You may also use a soft sea sponge, or a soft paint type brush.  One of our Rolls Royce friends, Chuck Hull of Simi Valley, California suggests a spray bottle, which can be purchased at the local home center.  Also apply the Leatherique Rejuvenator liberally nearer the stitched areas as the conditioner will be able to migrate laterally well into the hide.  Let the Rejuvenator sit over night so it has an opportunity to absorb into the fibrous side of the leather.   As the nutrients bond with the leather fibers, by the leather furniture's own nature, it will safely expel dirt to the surface.   Direct sun is the worst enemy of any home upholstery.  Do not place home or office leather upholstery in direct sun.   For “cardboard hard” leather, several applications will be necessary.  Patience will be rewarded with good results.

Step 3. After the ph correct proteins and collagens from the Leatherique Rejuvenator have permeated back into the pours and fibers of the leather, strengthening and nourishing them, the surface may be tacky, sticky, gritty, or have a white haze.  This is simply the dirt, grime, air pollution, perspiration, salts and other toxins that have floated out of the leather to the surface.  Apply Prestine Clean with a SOFT lint free cloth.  For tough dirt brush the cleaner into the grain of the leather or vinyl with a soft bath brush or toothbrush.  Let stand for a few minutes, usually by the time you are done with the next piece, and wipe the surface with a soft cloth  Your upholstered leather piece will appreciate the “face lift” and will have the new leather smell restored.  Prestine Clean will not remove the Leather Rejuvenator permeated into the leather.  This process may be used any vinyl areas to soften and condition.  Because vinyl is the same color all the way through, thorough cleaning of even the dirtiest vinyl will produce amazing results, leaving the vinyl clean and supple.

Prestine Clean is also a wonderful cleaner for your leather office chairs, tennis shoes, kids sneakers, good leather purses, leather luggage and bags.  Use of Rejuvenator is also recommend a few times a year to keep leather items healthy.   Because silicone based products harden leather, vinyl, and plastic, Prestine Clean is the best choice for proper cleaning and maintenance. 

Regular maintenance with Leatherique Rejuvenator and Prestine Clean will keep your leather furniture plump and healthy as it was in it’s natural state and will help leather repel stains by it’s own nature.  You don’t need heavy petroleum oils that make leather stick, waxes, or silicon sealers.  We purchase fine leather because it has a natural ability to breathe, conform to body temperature quickly, and have a luxurious hand, or feel.  Why cause your leather furniture to feel like vinyl or plastic with sticky, commercial products?  

LEATHER FACTS

We strongly advise against saddle soap.  It is formulated to remove heavy trail dirt and sweat from horse and rider and it has been known to remove the dye from the leather. Avoid products that contain petroleum or mineral oils, as they cause leather fibers to rot prematurely.   If your dye is worn away, call about our simple to use Leatherique Leather Dyes.  Our cleaner and conditioner have a capillary action.  The proteins, cleaners, and conditioners find their way deep into the pores of the leather and force out the dirt, perspiration, air pollution, unnecessary oils, and other toxins that destroy the fibers of the leather, destroying its strength and flexibility, and causing it to deteriorate. For tough, heavier stains, we do make leather cleaner to remove the stain from the surface of the leather.  The remainder of the stain will need to be “floated” out of the leather with Rejuvenator Oil.  Badly stained surfaces probably need to be re-dyed.  Call, email, or fax your specific Leather care questions to us anytime.

STAINING FROM BODY OILS, PERSPIRATION AND PETS

A common problem for leather furniture is staining from oils from hair, perspiration, dog and pet body oils.   If you begin using Rejuvenator regularly, this staining in leather will be minimized because the foreign oils are not able to penetrate into the leather fibers.  Perspiration has a very harsh ph, and besides staining your leather, can weaken and break down the stitching as well as the leather fibers causing premature dryness and cracking.  Because leather is fibrous like a sponge and absorbs stains, it is often impossible to clean and remove the stain.  Best results for improved appearance result with prepping well to clean the stain and then leather redye of the furniture.  

TYPES OF LEATHER USED IN FURNITURE

Modern leather, manufactured after 1992, is typically has a water based finish, and is very compatible with our dye.  Leather prior to 1990 is a surface sprayed lacquer, and can also easily be restored to like new but will require proper prepping. 

Finishes in furniture leather can also vary greatly.  While the most common finish is a uniform water based surface colorant, we also receive requests for dye for variegated and antiqued leather dye.  The variegated leather finish is very difficult to duplicate as it was original done with 2-3 colors.  The main color which can be darker or lighter is applied, then complimentary colors are blended onto the finish allowing the original shade to still come through.  When we scan these swatches under our spectrometer, a combined color is achieved.  We suggest for this type of leather that the customer secure a solid color cardboard paint chip from any home store, where they can find hundreds of different hues of the desired color, then mail us the solid color.  Because variegated colors appear different as they wear, the solid paint chip allows the leather furniture owner to select the hue that appeals to their eye or décor.

Antiqued leather furniture was also very popular on pre 1990 leather.  It consists of a main color, burgundy, dark green, tan, or brown being sprayed onto the hide, then a darker charcoal, sienna, or black antique glaze being applied.  This finish can be replicated, but it does take time.  For this type of finish, we also request a cardboard paint chip for matching the base color, and then another color chip for the selected glaze.

Another type of leather that has become very popular is the natural finish leather, or nubuck.  This leather often has nothing more than a waxed finish on the surface and scratches very easily.  It is the most difficult to keep looking Prestine, and over the years gains a distressed look as even a drop of water will stain it. 

HOW TO FIND A COLOR SAMPLE FOR LEATHER DYE

Most sofas have a tab of leather sewn under the top cushions explicitly for the purpose of color matching for a repair.  If your leather sofa or chair does not have this tab, you can lay the furniture on its’ back, lift the stapled on dust cover with a small screw driver and trim a small sample from the corner.  Then re-staple the dust cover and return the leather sofa to it’s upright position.  Or, you can mail us a cardboard color swatch that is matched to the sofa.   More information on leather furniture redye and color change is found in the redye section of our tutorial.

BLACK STAIN IN CRACKS and CREASES

Folks often call us about black staining in creases of the leather on their leather sofas.  If after using Rejuvenator and Prestine clean with a soft tooth brush, you still notice dirt in your creases, it may not be dirt.  Because leather fibers are not created in a flat plane, but were formed on a curved area on the animals back, it is natural for the leather to crease and fold as you sit on it and through normal wear.  As this creased area rubs together, it also rubs the dye off the surface and creates bare leather.  This friction often creates a tear in the leather.  By using Rejuvenator and Prestine Clean you are keeping these areas plump and supple, so they will be more relaxed and not as prone to creasing.  If the creasing has formed you may wish to use some of Leather Klear Kote in those areas to give the hide protection against abrasion and keep it filled in so dirt does not accumulate there and the two surfaces do not rub to create a tear.  The best repair is to plan to redye the area.  You can use a wipe dye technique, where you wipe or stain the creased areas, and the dye to the surrounding areas is minimal, just enough to freshen the color.

 Key Benefits to cleaning and nourishing your hides with Leatherique Rejuvenator and Prestine Clean

• Leather hides are conditioned & cleaned safely, easily, and gently.  No hard scrubbing or harsh chemicals.
• Leatherique Rejuvenator does not contain the cheap chemicals that trap dirt and discolor it.  Your leather is left feeling luxuriously supple as leather should feel.
• Because there are no petroleum or mineral oil fillers of any type in the Rejuvenator, any residual remains in the fibers, continuing to nourish the leather itself for months.  Don't forget keeping leather healthy and flexible is what extends its life and makes it more beautiful.
• This is absolutely "Simply the Best" way to care for your leather, used by museums, collectors, restorers, decorators, and auto enthusiasts World Wide.