Do’s and Don’ts of Leather Furniture Care and Maintenance

Leather furniture items offer your room an exotic feeling thanks to their shining upholstery. Whether you own a leather platform bed or a luxe leather sofa, they need your care, attention, and nourishment to last for a long time and keep looking stunning throughout their lifespan.

When you buy any leather furniture, be sure to read the manufacture’s reading manual to understand the instructions with regards to their maintenance and care. In many cases, the manufacturer’s warranty will be void unless you have followed the instructions as per the reading manuals.

Here are some of the most important tips you should know about your leather furniture in order to help them last longer and keep shining as new.

The Don’ts

Never Neglect Your Leather Furniture

While it may seem like a no-brainer, many homeowners actually think their leather furniture needs any special attention or treatment on a daily basis. As a result, they don’t prioritize cleaning and maintaining their leather furniture items such as chairs and couches. This severally affects the lifespan of the leather furniture.

Never Allow Stains to Settle Down

Although leather furniture items are harder to stain as compared to fabric upholstered furniture, you still need to be quick to remove any stains before they settle down and become dry.

While dealing with spoilage, use a dry and soft piece of cloth to blot the stained area. Since leather products don’t too easily absorb the stains, this tactic should work well without using any additional cleaning solutions.

However, in case of excess spoilage, you might need to use a wet cloth if the dry blotting doesn’t seem to be effective enough. A word of caution here: never use water to clean any grease else it could only get worse.

As a matter of fact, greasy or oily stains may demand professional attention.

However, if the stains are not oil-based yet harder than normal, you might want to use a mild water-based cleaner.

Keep in mind that you should not use any stain remover without conducting a spot test.

Never Use Stain Removers without Conducting Spot test

The leather used in furniture items could vary from the manufacturer based on their prices and quality. Likewise, no stain remover is ideal for all kinds of furniture materials. Therefore, you should not trust a stain removal blindly and take your leather furniture for granted.

It’s highly recommended that you should go for a spot test. This essentially means you should choose a portion of your leather furniture that is not easily visible from the front. For example, you can choose a small area in the corner in the back of your sofa to conduct the spot test before using any cleanser.  If the test goes wrong and results are negative, then you won’t regret it as much as you would if you end up ruining the front area of your leather sofa.

Never Use Tap Water for Cleaning

Never use tap water to clean your leather furniture as the chlorine in the water may discolor your leather. If necessary, use distilled water for better results.

Never Use Oils

Never use any kind of oil-based furniture solutions such as mink, lemon oil, and furniture polish, or any products that contain silicone or wax. These products make your leather furniture sticky and cause damage to them.

Never Use Wipes

Don’t ever use baby wipes to remove the stain from your leather furniture as they contain alkaline which could damage the leather.

Never Use Harsh Chemical

Stay away from products that use harsh chemicals or they will cause serious damage to the leather furniture. Most of those products contain varnish, bleach or ammonia which could discolor your leather furniture.

 The Do’s

Dust and Vacuum Leather Furniture

Dusting leather furniture is extremely important in order to keep them clean and free from dirt. Use a large furniture duster to dust your leather furniture if you want it to look shiny and pristine all the time. Dusting your leather furniture daily will prevent the dirt from entering and settling into the creases.

Cleaning your leather furniture with a vacuum cleaner is another effective way to maintain its quality for a long time. The advantage of using a vacuum cleaner is that it can reach and clean the crumbs and debris hidden in the tiny crevices. Moreover, it is important to clean your leather furniture with your vacuum cleaner as often as you would clean the floor.

Keep the Leather Furniture Covered

If you want to keep your furniture from being dust and dirt, consider using a cover with lightweight sheets.

Aside from dust, it will also protect your leather furniture against harsh sunlight which can cause the leather to dry out and crack over the period of time.

If your furniture is located in a high-traffic area, using a cover is the best idea to ward off the dust and dirt.

Nourish Leather Furniture

While cleaning the leather furniture regularly is vital to keep it look clean, you need to nourish the leather furniture to improve its performance and lifespan.

When it comes to cleaning leather furniture, you can choose from a variety of options.

Saddle Soaps – They remove the built-in dirt of your furniture items while improving their appearance.

Microfiber – Any lint-free rags such as microfiber will help you clean your leather furniture easily.

Hide Food – Special conditioning products such as hide food can refresh and rejuvenate your leather furniture items. You can also use olive oil to achieve similar results.

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