Caring For Your Leather
Despite what you might have heard, caring for your leather furniture is remarkable easy, and necessary if you want your leather to last for a lifetime or more. Just a few little tips and tricks and your leather furniture will look and feel great for the rest of your life, with almost no effort whatsoever.
What to Do
Dusting
Most of the care needed for your leather furniture is just a regular weekly dusting, either with a slightly damp cloth, duster or a vacuum cleaner with a soft brush attachment. You may not think it, but the difference caused by a regular dusting is huge. It stops dirt building up in the easily-opened pores of the leather and prevents it from looking faded underneath a coating of dust.
As long as the cloth you use isn’t too wet or your vacuum cleaner isn’t too scratchy this simple ritual is almost all you need to keep your leather lasting almost forever.
Clean Up Quickly
You don’t need to clean up your leather much as long as you never let it get dirty. You can make sure it stays clean and doesn’t stain by making sure that you clean up spills as soon as they occur. Otherwise they’ll seep into the leather and stain it, becoming incredibly difficult to remove without specialist care.
Dry liquids with paper towels, making sure that you can soak up as much as possible so that the rest can evaporate naturally. Hoover up crumbs before they get crushed into the furniture or cause scratches on the surface.
Regular Conditioning
If you want to take the extra step in taking care of your leather, then you can consider conditioning it with a specialist cleaner. If you do want to do this, make sure that the leather conditioner is appropriate for your furniture, by checking the manufacturer’s instructions, and apply it in an even coat. An uneven coat can leave marks, and inappropriate conditioner might do more damage than good.
What to Avoid
Avoid Sharp Objects
One of the most damaging things that can happen to leather is being torn. Tears, no matter how small, are difficult to repair, and can grow into big problems. Even if you take care of them they end up leaving scars that effect the look of your leather furniture.
Avoid tearing your leather by not letting sharp objects on or near it. Aside from obviously sharp objects, leather is often torn by pets’ claws or teeth, and innocuous items like belt buckles and keys pressed too hard against the surface.
Keep Out of Direct Sunlight
Direct sunlight has a twofold effect on leather furniture, not just causing the colour to fade but also making it dry out quicker, one of the main causes of leather damage. Sunlight doesn’t need to be completely avoided, but windows that receive a lot of sunlight are a bad place to put your leather furniture.
Pay attention to which parts of your home get the most sun and avoid keeping furniture there for long periods of time, or at all if possible.
Avoid Cleaning Products
Leather furniture doesn’t need much in the way of cleaning, and especially doesn’t need chemical cleaning products, or even basic soaps. In fact, far from cleaning your leather furniture, most of these products will cause irreparable damage, even if you don’t use them a lot.
Leather is quite an absorbent material, and using cleaning products allows it to absorb unhealthy chemicals that will break it down from the inside. Avoid using anything other than a small amount of water and a microfibre cloth to wipe it down from time to time. As long as you keep on top of spills you shouldn’t ever need more than that.
Ease off on the Water
Speaking of water, make sure not to use too much of it when you’re cleaning your leather furniture. A little water is fine to help remove dust and dirt from the surface, but it should be a very light coating that evaporates almost immediately. Too much water and the leather will absorb it, potentially leading to mould or water damage.
