How can i clean a leather suite / sofa

steeveecee

I just got a new leather sofa and bought Lord Sheraton Leather Balsam to protect it.

I've just covered one of the cushions in the stuff and now it looks quite shiny and is squeaky! I preferred the orginal matt feel and I'm wondering how I can remove the polish as it has given the cushion a plasticy clingy feel

The polish contains beeswax. Would using baby wipes or white spirit be any good? I've tried washing it with hot water and fairy liquid but it hasn't helped.

steeveecee

Phew - Lemon oil and good ol' soap and water saved the day. Hurrah! :j

steeveecee wrote: »

I just got a new leather sofa and bought Lord Sheraton Leather Balsam to protect it.

I've just covered one of the cushions in the stuff and now it looks quite shiny and is squeaky! I preferred the orginal matt feel and I'm wondering how I can remove the polish as it has given the cushion a plasticy clingy feel

The polish contains beeswax. Would using baby wipes or white spirit be any good? I've tried washing it with hot water and fairy liquid but it hasn't helped.

scotclean

DO NOT USE BABY WIPES !!! Believe it or not, but these can be very mildy abrasive, and through time will remove the protective finish from your suite. Different types of leathers require different types of cleaning methods. There are analine leathers, pigmented, two tone, nubuck, bi cast etc. each require a different approach, so it would be careless to go gun-ho with the suggestions on this page. In most cases, the level of leather protector on your suite will determine how serviceable it can be. Oils, soaps, and conditioners pick up the dirt from the body and clothes etc. and draw the dirt into the leather, so avoid gimic products that may make your suite look lovely and shiney for a few days, as they may cause more damage than you realise. I suggest a visit to lttsolutions.net these guys are the experts in leather care, and they have a very informative blog page which will help give you the right information for the type of leather you have. Hope this helps.

Totts

I have a leather suite:

3 seater 220cm wide x approx 100cm deep & 100cm high
2 seater 155 cm wide x approx 100cm deep & 100cm high
1 chair x approx 105 cm wide x 100cm deep & 100cm high

It has survived my kids and storage sinbce I downsized, but I need to clean it up carefully as I am hoping to use any money I make from selling it second hand, towards the cost of a smaller second hand sofa.

It will need a very thorough cleaning. I am not sure if I should try to pre-clean the suite before going at it with the following products in case I run out.
I have 2 leather care kits (can't find manufacturer name on packaging)
Each kit contains:
600ml leather cleaner trigger spray
250ml leather conditioner in a bottle with a cotton cloth.
The kits also contain something that looks like a Pritt stick and is called an 'Inkstick' which "removes fresh ink stains from fabric and leather, also stubborn ingrained dirt from fabric".

I have trawled the internet and the site here for ideas but there is a lot of conflicting advice. I wondered if as opposed to just plain warm water I should add dilute solution of the cleaner in each bowl and get the main bulk of the grubbiness off before using the solution neat.

The suite is black and thus has no ink stains and therefore I am tempted to cut the inkstick into sections and allow it to dissolve in hot water and carefully use this solution to embark upon the bulk of the initial cleaning. The suite has no inkstains on it, but due to storage is very grubby - and this is a specifically manufactured product given to me at the time of purchase with the suite, so I know it's unlikely to have any adverse effects. I don't need it for any 'spot' cleaning.

The difficulty I have also which concerns me and I cannot find any ideas on is that a person who was storing the suite for me when I moved house allowed some splashing of matt emulsion on the chair (tiny specs but will not remove with fingernail) and also a few brushes of the white emulsion on a couple of places on the sofas.

I know water based emulsion is dissolvable, but it has been sitting on the leather for a long while, and I do not want to over-scrub to remove it as it may damage the grain/finish of the leather.

If anyone could offer any advice or tips I would really appreciate it. I know some people recommend baby wipes with lanolin but I have read from a leather care specialist (on yahoo I think) about all sorts of wrongly recommended things. The leather care specialist even said that todays saddle soap is too harsh for the modern mass produced leather suites (although this was very expensive and not a cheap buy). I had read facial soap with moisturiser (Dove) did just as well, but I don't want to leave a residue. This is why I was suggesting a compromise of the dissolved inkstick/cleaner in water as an initial solution. I know the other cleaners provided will work as will the feeder as it was bought with the suite.

Not sure how long these products last though as there is no expiry date on them?

Financially, I need to sell the furniture which is why I can't afford to mess it up.

vij

have you looked at using saddlesoap?

Totts

Hi - yes I mentioned I had been advised against it in my post.

bargainbird

Have you tried lighter fluid for the emulsion, shifts all sorts of thing , but i would do it in a hidden place first .

I have a leather suite and just use a solution of diluted stardrops, comes up fine

Good luck

linni

Aldi had some leather cleaner (on Friday), I think it was about £2.99 and I agree with bargainbird, stardrops does a good job.

freakyogre

I used to work for a furniture store (sadly went into administration) and that kit sounds similar to what we supplied (although not exact).

We used to recommend customers gave their leather suite a wipe over with a damp cloth every week or so just to keep the dirt/dust off. The kits were recommended to be used once every 3 months or so (we used to advise 'when your phone bill' comes through as a reminder - if of course you have it sent quarterly!) If you haven't cleaned/moisturised it for a while, you may want to give it a pre-clean, but if it's not that bad i'd just try the cleaner first, then the conditioner. Always condition it after using the cleaner as this can dry the leather out.

I wouldn't think you'd run out to be honest as you don't need a lot of each to clean a suite. We used to say our kits would last around 2 years with regular (3 month) cleaning, so you should be fine with the amounts you have.

The ink removal stick is really only for removing ink straight after you've got it on there. As far as I can remember, our stick replaced wipes that we used to have and these were quite strong. I would recommend trying it in a hidden area first before doing the whole suite as it is only meant to be a 'spot' cleaner.

Our guys used to recommend soap flakes such as Lux if customers ran out of cleaner as it's a mild cleaner. Some also recommended saddle soap, but I know most people I worked with agreed on the soap flakes.

Baby wipes were a big no no, although I hear a lot of people using these without any problems. Personally I wouldn't use them as heard horror stories about leather drying etc and i'm rather fond of my sofa.

Some customers even told us they used things like washing up liquid, furniture polish, even bleach along with scouring pads :eek: and then wondered why they had dry leather or even colour loss. Hmm, I wonder!

I'm not sure about getting paint off, but I know we used to have a seperate spray cleaner (I can't remember the name) but it was a blue can and I have seen it in the Range for a few pounds. I'm not sure if that would get it off, but might be worth a try. If you do use something like this, make sure you condition afterwards as it's a really strong cleaner. We used to use it on suites that had been in storage for a long time or returned that needed a good clean (think sick and allsorts). Nice!

Totts

bargainbird wrote: »

Have you tried lighter fluid for the emulsion, shifts all sorts of thing , but i would do it in a hidden place first .

I have a leather suite and just use a solution of diluted stardrops, comes up fine

Good luck

I have hung fire on the suite cleaning (long story) but was going to use the spot cleaner VERY diluted with some stardrops (minimal). HOWEVER I am new to strdrops (Yes folks this will be my first time & I'm quite excited) so how much without damaging the leather?

I am going to have my Mum behind me with the leather cleaner going over what I have just done almost immediately and then we're going to feed it.

I am putting the suite up for sale to be honest as I have just bought a second hand one from ebay.