How do I clean/treat leather furniture?

knitwit67

Thanks to everyone for these suggestions. I will start with the flannel and dove , as I have some in the house but will use the others later to see whats best. I don't think I will use the egg and sugar method though. That will be better used in a cake as a treat after my hard work

Thanks again guys

xyummimummito2x

Definately flash wipes! Has to be the yellow pack though - don't ask me why!

Nicki

I have chairs very similar to these which we use in our kitchen/dining room for every meal

http://www.next.co.uk/x483940s3#804621x48

I have 3 kids, one disabled and very uncoordinated and one a toddler who has just moved from high chair to normal chair, and after each meal the chairs are filthy! Absolutely caked in food, which can be extremely difficult to remove, especially things like weetabix which often doesn't get wiped up until after the school run has finished and so is set hard.

Does anyone have any tips as to how to clean the chairs effectively with as little effort as possible. With a busy family and the additional needs of a disabled child and a young toddler, with the best will in the world it isn't always possible to get to them the second spills happen, though I know that would be the ideal. I've tried soap and water with an abrasive scrubber and cloth, which isn't very effective and have to be gentle anyway to avoid taking the surface off the leather, and also squirting with a kitchen cleaner and wiping off with a cloth, but neither option works very well. At the moment, I do have some patches of dried stuff on some of the chairs which I just haven't been able to shift and I'd like to get these off and find a way of keeping them looking good.

M.E.

We have these chairs too but family is grown up.
Personally I'd cover them rather like an apron.

Simplest would be using an old duvet cover possibly a character one from a charity shop. These could then be washed.
The cover can be whipped off for an adult to sit down too.
Hopefully the children will grow out of messy (they do, mostly) and the chairs will retain some of the nice leather look.

torbrex

Kleeneze leather cleaner is supposed to be very good, I did the catalogues a few of years ago and it was a big seller

splodger_seedswapper

i use vinegar and water solution on my leather sofa / armchairs - as it cleans them ok and stops them from smelling of dog (vinegar is a great deodoriser)

meritaten

I use babywipes to wipe off the chairs - after all, what is leather? its skin isnt it? once a week my OH uses leather cleaner - either wipes or liquid - to give them a 'good' clean. yeah, and weetabix, once set hard, could be used by bricklayers instead of mortar! I use the BACK of a knife to scrape that off gently. if you are worried you are damaging your chairs with all the scraping and cleaning, I would suggest you buy some of those chair covers like they use at weddings. Those should be machine washable!

luxor4t

I use a damp flannel & face soap (a Kim & Aggie tip). Leather is clean way faster than with the wipes etc I tried in the past.

judyb

Please do not use baby wipes on these leaher chairs. Leathers is not skin it is a highly processed product that has a finish on the surface which is very expensive to replace when it has been removed which baby wipes will do. Baby wipes damage the finish on leather - we see it all the time.

The best thing to do would be to use a good leather protector which will act like a scotchgard and help any food to be removed more easily. A maintenance cleaner can then e used which is a quick spray and wipe and will only rake a few minutes.

I know how difficult it is with everythin there is to do in a morning but a quick wipe with a damp cloth as soon as eating has finished would make a big difference or over the chairs during mealtimes.

Hope this helps
Judyb
Leather Consultant

meritaten

all I can say is that I have used babywipes on leather for some years now - and they have worked fine. my OH does use a leather cleaner once a week - perhaps thats helped?