Leather sofa care

For centuries, leather furniture has remained in demand and habitually decorates the interiors of luxurious living rooms and offices. Leather sofas still look stylish and respectable. Moreover, they can serve for many years and even live up to the status of “antique furniture”. But under one important condition - good care and careful treatment.

How and with what to clean a leather sofa

Caring for a leather sofa does not require much effort if you do it regularly and correctly.

Every week it is necessary to collect accumulated dust with a vacuum cleaner or wipe the sofa first with a soft damp cloth and then with a dry one. This procedure cleanses the pores of the skin and allows it to be enriched with oxygen, which increases the life of the sofa.

It is recommended to clean the sofa monthly using special products. Choosing a good leather furniture care product is an important task. For an expensive item, you should not use a budget, untested product. It is better to purchase products from well-known manufacturers with guaranteed quality and compliance with all the tasks declared by the manufacturer (for example, Boston, Salamander, Softcare).

Reference! In emergency situations, you can use good leather shoe care products.

Once every six months, the skin should be nourished with fat-containing products that can restore its elasticity.To do this, you can use special products or oils (linseed or coconut).

The oil is applied with a soft cloth, then wiped dry with a flannel, cotton or microfiber cloth.

To restore shine, you can use products containing wax. Rub the skin carefully so as not to damage the coating.

Attention! When choosing a leather sofa care product, make sure it is suitable for natural leather.

You can disguise scratches and small cuts using special liquid leather. The difficulty lies in choosing the correct shade that matches the tone of the sofa.

Traditional methods

Along with special products, you can try folk methods that helped care for leather products long before the advent of modern products.

Spots are considered the most difficult skin care tasks. They can be removed using simple means that are available in every home.

Attention! Stains must be removed immediately, otherwise it is very difficult to remove them yourself; you will have to contact dry cleaning specialists.

Stains from wine, juice, coffee, tea can be removed with an alcohol solution. Coffee and tea shops are first wiped with soapy water, then with a damp cloth and wiped dry. Coffee stains can also be removed using ammonia.

After wiping the greasy stain with a dry cloth, you can sprinkle it with cornstarch or baby powder. After 2-3 hours, the remaining fat will be absorbed into the powder.

Traces from a ballpoint pen, felt-tip pen, or lipstick are removed with a cotton swab soaked in alcohol or lemon juice diluted with water. You can use tape that is glued to the damaged area.After removing the tape, wipe the remaining adhesive with soapy water.

Attention! Do not use acetone to remove stains. It can damage the color of the leather and destroy the protective layer.

To remove chewing gum, you need to place pieces of ice wrapped in plastic around it. The chewing gum should come off easily; if this does not happen, you will have to use a dull knife or some other object that will help remove it.

If the skin has become dull, you can restore its shine with the help of glycerin. Apply it with a sponge and then rub it until shiny with a soft cloth. The shine lasts for 1-2 weeks.

To restore the shine and softness of the skin, natural cow's milk has long been used. To do this, you need to warm it up, moisten a soft cloth and rub the sofa.

If abrasion appears on the skin, you can remove it with olive oil. The worn area is wiped with oil, a cloth soaked in water is placed on top, and a warm iron is placed on it. When exposed to heat, the oil is absorbed into the skin, making it soft.

Important! The iron should be warm, not hot, so as not to damage the skin.

Finally, you need to apply a color-matched shoe polish. You can also try to remove abrasion using peeled orange peel, which contains a sufficient amount of essential oils.

Basic rules for using leather sofas

There are several basic rules regarding the operating conditions of leather sofas:
Whenever possible, treat leather furniture with care. If you can, for example, move your coffee drinking to another place, it is better to take advantage of this precaution.

The skin does not like ultraviolet radiation and artificial heat, which lead to drying out and cracking.Therefore, leather furniture must be placed away from windows and heat sources (heaters, fireplaces, stoves). The minimum recommended distance is at least 1 m, but 2-3 m is better.
In a room with leather furniture, it is recommended to maintain relative humidity within 65%. Low humidity not only dries out the air, but also the skin.

Reference! Painted leather does not like drying out; its top layer can crack and crumble.

Very often in films based on classic works, you can see leather furniture in white covers, which are worn when the owners of the house are away for a long time. This is no accidental directorial technique. The skin really should not be covered with colored covers, which may fade, which will lead to damage to the leather and the appearance of stains that will be impossible to remove.

You should not allow your pets to jump on a leather sofa. Even the toughest skin can't withstand claws and will end up with unsightly scratches.