DFS Sofa Recolouring

DeanBaker1981

Hi Everyone.

To cut a very long story short I have a sofa with DFS that according to them has satining caused by dye transfer (which suprise suprise I am not covered for, even with the extra 5 year leather protection I bought).

I've had the store manager and service manager out today to inspect the sofa (after I wrote a stinking letter of complaint to the DFS HQ and the Chief Exec Ian Filby) and they have offered to recolour the sofa as a gesture of good will. I have tried fighting them for a replacement or my money back but its going no where so ill settle for the recolour.

Has anyone had a sofa recoloured before and what was the outcome? They have warned me that should anything go wrong with the recolour in time like the stain comming back through then there is nothing else that can be done. They even want me to sign a disclaimer proving this. Should I be nervous of having this done or is it a good thing? Any horror stories welcome.

bifold

So your furniture has some dye transfer marks,Is the dye comming from clothing thats not colour fast? Then your claim is not with DFS but with the clothing retailer.
I would go to a specialist leather re-colour company for a large area and get them to use solvent based pigments,DfS use water based pigments that are not ideal for using over large areas of dye transfer,(I used to work for DFS and the stuff they use is ok for small repairs/areas)

DeanBaker1981

Hi bifold. Thanks for the info. I didn't realise there were different paints. The guy from DFS said it would be sprayed if that makes any difference??? Yeah the marks have come from clothing, or that's what they have said anyway. Still annoyed tho that the cover we bought doesn't cover this.

bifold

Its all sprayed DFS guys tend to use a airbrush bit like applying fake tan. Specialists leather guys use spray guns and tend to do lots more surface prep work bit like spraying a car.
I covered a sofa in the past that had dye transfer from newly purchased marks and spencer shirt ,marks paid for a part recover.
Light colour leathers are bad, as denims are so popular and non colourfast, you get a sort greyish sort of film over the leather.

judyb

It may be possible to remove the dye transfer and not necessitate recolouring. I would not expect DFS to know this!! but this would always be a process rather than rushing in to recolour. It is very important to remove as much of the dye before recouloring as if this is not done it is likely that the dye will bleed back through.

Water based pigments are absolutely fine - solvent pigments are very old fashioned these days and not used in modern leather repairing processes. I would not recommend anyone who is simply spraying pigments onto the leather - this is not the best way of applying pigments and can lead to adhesion problems.

The success of removing the dye transfer will depend very much on the way this leather has been finished.

If the leather is finished with a pigment and clear coat finish (most cream leather will be finsihed in this way) then you will need to use a Jean & Dye Transfer Remover Kit which has products designed specifically for this problem. This is something you can do yourself but if it does not work it simply means that the dye has travelled too far into the leather and will need stronger products to remove it and this part is best left to a trained leather technician who will also be able to recolour and refinish if necessary.

A good quality leather protector will help inhibit this problem from happening again and your leather should be cleaned regularly with a maintenance product.

Using household cleaners and old wives recipes could really damage the leather and should be avoided

Please do not use WD40 or Goo Gone or nail varnish remover as these could cause much more damage than you already have.

If you have to go down the recolouring route as long as it is done correctly by a qualified person then there should be no ongoing problems but it will be important to clean and protect it well to prolong its life.


Hope this helps
Judyb