The trend for leather furniture has always been increasingly high. It is durable and versatile, playing a crucial role in home interior styling. Leather upholstered furniture is also comfortable and is therefore highly desired. But leather furniture needs continuous maintenance, for which you can seek help from professionals. They implement the right techniques of leather upholstery restoration to ensure long-lasting usage and quality enhancement.
Identifying the Types of Leather
- Aniline leather
- Semi-Aniline leather
- Pigmented leather
- Corrected Grain pigmented leather
- Full Grain pigmented leather
- Antique Grain
- Finished split leather
- Nubuck
- Pull Up leather
- Suede
Common Problems With Leather Upholstery
Sunlight
With time, direct exposure to the sun’s rays causes the leather upholstery to fade significantly. You can notice slight tinges of discolouration, and ultimately the quality starts degrading. Eventually, the leathers begin to dry out, harden and show cracks compared to the formerly supple and rich leather.
Damage From Body Oil
It is another common problem with leather furniture. It displays colour loss and discolouration from body oil. While you sit on the furniture, it starts absorbing oil and perspiration from the hair and skin. The oil accumulates, and over time, the leather darkens. It happens from skin touchpoints with the furniture, such as the armrest, headrest, or neck for reclining sofas.
Cracks
It happens when there is an unavoidable temperature fluctuation and excess moisture level. Natural leather takes time to adapt to the environment, adjusting to the changing seasons etc. With cracking, the upholstery starts peeling and pilling. Leather combinations like leather and vinyl are more prone to cracks than authentic leather.
External elements
Things like alcohol settle on the leather upholstery and start causing damage if left for more than an hour. Alkaline components, found in various soaps and detergents, are causative factors for leather damage. If left unattended, it will dry out the leather. Direct ink spills from the marker pen, dyes from clothes like denim deposit on the leather upholstery, and degrades its quality.
Loosening
With continued usage, you can see that the leather upholstery starts to loosen. When bought initially, the leather was tightly pulled, appropriately hugging the furniture. With time, this leather begins to break and soften. Leather upholstery loosening is a common complaint.
Leather Upholstery Care and Restoration
Assessing the severity of scratches
You have to consult professionals for leather restoration if excessive scratches and scuffs on your leather furniture. They will study the kind of leather and then use the proper methodologies to repair it. If the scratch is minor, rubbing olive oil or baby oil and then drying it can prove effective. Sometimes, they also suggest applying show polish on the scratched region. The professionals can apply filler on the affected area, use a matching colourant shade, and put a couple of coats to adjust the leather finish.
Assessing the cracks
While the potential for leather upholstery cracks is always high, professionals repair Aniline leather by re-dying the cracks. While it is not a permanent remedy, it helps to restore its appearance. For pigmented leather, they fill the gaps with synthetics.
Repairing cuts and tear
In this situation, expert maintenance is recommended. They have leather repair kits with liquid leather in different colours. They mix the colours and paint the region with the cut. Next, the professionals will use texture relief paper and a heated tool to move it over the affected area and repeat it if essential. Hence, overall it takes more effort and time.
Leather conditioning
You can use conditioned cream in the right amount on your leather furniture to keep it fresh looking and intact. Avoid over-conditioning. Vacuum the leather furniture and the corners properly to eliminate dust, debris and dirt. Use baby wipes to remove build-up surface residue at once. You can use a soft, microfibre cloth, moisturising soap, and water mixture to remove stains and pat dry.
For professional help, consult D&S Carpets for their high standard leather cleaning, repair and restoration solutions. With advanced tools and equipment, they provide superior upholstery cleaning services to restore the fabrics to an excellent condition. They successfully cater to the requirement of every client.