If your leather couch is your pride and joy, the feather in your home’s stylish cap, or the best place to hunker down for an excellent binge-watching session, keeping it clean is essential. Leather is one of those materials that ooze luxury and presents a challenge when it comes to cleaning.
Whether you are worried about wear and tear or what to do if you spilled a glass of red wine when that jump scare caught you off guard, you can use our leather cleaning tips to not only keep your leather couch clean but also help it age gracefully. Here are tips on how to safely clean your leather couch and other leather furniture.
Use the Right Tools and Cleaners
To take advantage of the tricks of the trade, it makes sense to start with the trade tools. Cleaning leather requires the following:
- Saddle soap
- Water
- Leather cream
- Soft cloth
- Rubbing alcohol
- Cotton swab
These items help address dirty spots while helping maintain that luxurious leather suppleness you love.
Step1: Good old soap and water
Your cleaning begins with a good old fashioned cleaning with soap and water. It is the best way to remove mild stains. Choosing saddle soap is your safest bet to avoid causing damage. Saddle soap is designed specifically for cleaning, conditioning, and protecting leather using gentle, moisturizing ingredients like lanolin and natural preservatives like beeswax.
It is an excellent choice for all things leather, including your shoe collection and purses. You can find it at hardware stores, and often big box stores will carry it. Some chain shoe stores sometimes stock it as well. Fill a pail or large bowl with warm soapy water and then dip and wring out a clean washcloth. Wipe away any stains or dirty marks on the leather.
Step 2: Remove deeper stains
Saddle soap is an excellent first step as a general cleaner. However, something like ink is harder to tackle. Using a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol, gently dab at the stain, avoiding touching the surrounding area. Otherwise, you can spread the colour.
Step 3. Thorough drying
Use a clean, soft dry cloth to remove any dampness from the leather. This will prevent mildew from forming. If you were explicitly cleaning away a spot, avoid touching this area when drying the surface.
Step 4. Use a leather cream
Leather is just like skin: It needs moisturizers to remain smooth, soft, and supple. Leather creams are available at fine leather and shoe stores. They help re-moisturize leather. Keep in mind it is not a cleaner, nor is it a polish.
You simply want to massage it into the leather using a soft, clean cloth and let it sink in. You can then rub it off to remove residue. However, when applied in the right amount, it will simply be sucked into the thirsty leather.
Preventing Stains
First and foremost, you want to attend to a stain as soon as the accident happens. The longer it is left, the more it will penetrate the natural material. Prevent stains with these tips:
1. Clean often
Stains occur on leather not just when you spill something or mark it with a pen but also over time. So cleaning your couch once a week helps prevent dirt from setting in and making noticeable marks and discolourations.
2. Condition
Following our conditioning tips keeps the natural oils in the leather healthy, maintaining that soft sheen. The smoother and more supple the leather, the better it will look and the more quickly you can use your cotton swab and alcohol to remove stains when you spill something.
3. Wipe damp spots
Step 3 is crucial to keep your couch stain free. If you own a leather coat, boots, or shoes, hopefully, you know how important it is to treat them often to prevent water damage. Your couch is no different, and water is not its friend. Although you can use soap and water to clean your couch, water can’t be left on your leather, or it will cause water damage. Use water in small amounts, and be sure to wipe it off the couch once you are finished cleaning.
4. Follow care instructions:
Despite all these cleaning tips, each manufacturer can use different treatments and dyes on their leather products. It is best to follow care instructions provided by the furniture store or that come from the manufacturer.
Leather Care Tips
Cleaning is one thing, but care is another. If you want to get the most out of your leather furniture, use these leather care tips to keep it comfy and perfectly patinaed.
1. Avoid drying leather out
If possible, avoid placing your leather furniture in direct contact with air conditioning, heating, or fireplaces. These things all contribute to drying the leather out, which can lead to cracking. If you must position your furniture in these areas due to lack of space, remember to use that leather conditioner to keep it from getting too dry.
2. No pets
Fido or Kitty won’t like this rule, but it’s a must if you want to avoid damage. Keep your cats and dogs off your leather furniture and train your cat so they will find something else to scratch!
3. Moisturize
As mentioned twice now, moisturizing your leather furniture is a must. Creams keep your leather soft and will even help smooth away scratches if you’ve had trouble keeping the pets off the furniture. Just keep in mind most creams will darken the colour of the leather. You might want to test a small spot that is less visible before you go to town on the whole couch.
4. Make repairs
While leather can be pretty challenging, accidents do happen. If you somehow manage to cut the leather, call a leather repair service to come in and assess the damage. They will know how to fix the issue, so it becomes less visible and less vulnerable to further ripping.
These tips are a leather couch owner’s best friend. If you’re not one for cleaning, hiring basic cleaning services to come in and take on the job is your safest bet.
To learn more about how to clean your leather couch safely, call Maid4Condos at (647) 822-0601 or contact us here.
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