Leather furniture Care
Leather furniture sales have increased significantly over the last 5 years and one major problem has now become clear- IGNORANCE.
IGNORANCE in the fact that firstly customers rarely know what kind of leather they have bought and secondly the salesperson's ignorance in not advising the correct way to look after it.
There are 6 main types of leather used to make furniture, you need to know which you have.
1. Sealed Leathers, often called Corrected Grain. This leather is top surface coloured then a clear protective sealant is sprayed over the colour, this leather is the most common, to test if you have this leather drip a small amount of water on a hidden area, if it sits there for 15 minutes or more, you have a sealed leather (buy; GT15, GT11, Inkstick, GT12, GT14, GT13.5)
2. Antique Rubbed. These usually have a very shiny finish, in the case of Antique Rubbed a base coat of colour is applied first, dried then a dark shade is applied over the top, areas are then rubbed and the light colour underneath shows through. A protective coating is then sprayed over the top to seal in the colours, PU is as above but without the rubbing process. (Buy; GT15, GT11, Inkstick, GT13.5)
3. Semi Aniline. This leather is coloured by dyes which penetrate the leather, a thin clear sealant is sprayed over it, this sealant gives some protection, but not much, to test for Semi Aniline, drip water on a hidden area and if it soaks in within 5 minutes you have Semi Aniline. (Buy; GT15 Foam Cleaner, GT13.5)
4. Pure Aniline. Dyed as above but without any protective sealant, fades and stains easily. Do the water test, water will soak in within 30 seconds. (Buy; GT 15 Foam Cleaner, GT16 for new aniline only).
5. Waxed pull-up. This is a pure aniline or sometimes Nubuck, waxed or oiled, this treatment gives some protection against spilt liquids, but fades and dries out quickly with heat and clothing. It also shows slight "scratches" if rubbed with a blunt object, this is sometimes done at the factory to give an aged look. Clean with GT15 Foam Cleaner but colour check first, treat with GT17 Wax Pull-up Leather Revivier to rewax, remove scratches and replenish the natural oils.
6. PU Leather or Bicast Leather. This is a leather with a plastic type coating and generally very shiny. It's very similar to Patent leather often used on shoes. Keep away from strong heat, clean with a just a damp cloth or GT15 if you have pets. Cannot be conditioned because of the plastic coating. Conditioning could cause the coating to part from the base leather.
DO ALL TESTS ON A HIDDEN AREA
You should now know which leather you have. Now you need advice on what to do and what not to do.
All leather suffers from the same problems, these are:
- Human body/hair oils and grease (perspiration)
- Dye transfer from clothing.
- Drying out from heating and our bodies.
Fabric suites suffer from the first two also, so don't think that you have bought a leather suite on the basis that it's easy maintenance and now I've told you it's not, leather is far more durable and we can provide easy remedies.
Signs of number 1 problem: Areas that hair and skin touch start to darken, cleaning has no effect, it may make it worse, colour turns powdery and comes off.
Prevention: If you have greasy hair or perspire heavily it is worth while making a fabric cover for these areas. Otherwise wipe over the areas twice a week with a damp cloth, then once a month clean it with Leather Preserve Gentle Cleaner GT15.
Solution: Buy Head & Hand Grease Remover or a leather upholsterer can replace panels, we can provide dyes to recolour.
Signs of number 2 problem: This can be a sudden problem if a person with new clothes that have never been washed or cleaned sits on a pale coloured suite, or a slow build up over weeks.
Prevention: Again if a person sits for hours in the same seat in denim, use a cover, otherwise we have two products which should remove the dye transfer, GT12 Intensive Cleaner for recent transfer, or Safety Solvent cleaner anything over 7 days. Colour test all our products first.
Solution: We can provide the name of a company that will remove the transfer and recolour, UK mainland only.
Signs of number 3 problem: Leather looks dull and lost its lustre, starts to crease and inevitably crack.
Prevention: Clean leather thoroughly with GT15 Gentle Maintenance Cleaner and treat twice with Leather Preserve Conditioner GT11, retreat with conditioner every 4 months, October, February and July are ideal times, more often if you have heating at a high temperature. Antique Rubbed and PU leathers will suffer very quickly from drying out, the polyurethane protective coating will quickly break down and come off revealing the dye which will transfer onto wet cloths and clothing, it will wash out of clothing.
Solution: We can provide dyes to colour in creases and cracks, see our Colourwash paragraph on the Scuffmaster page.
Ink marks: All inks can be effectively removed within a few minutes of the accident on all sealed leathers, if not quickly removed the ink gets deeper into the surface sealant and becomes more difficult to remove, having an Inkstick on the premises in case of accidents is strongly advised. Never rub hard with any Ink removers. Ink cannot be removed from Semi and Aniline leather. We can provide the name of companies that can solve Ink related problems, re-colouring will usually be required.
WARNING! Many websites suggest the use of hair spray to remove ink marks, as do "Kim & Aggie" of the "How Clean Is Your House?" TV series - in fact, they state "we don't know why it works".
Well, we do! It dissolves the the clear protective lacquer that covers the leather dye. Removing this lacquer means that the leather absorbs dirt immediately, and this will not come off. If you have already used used hair spray we offer aerosol sealants to replace the lost sealant.
Gliptone market products into all major leather markets, for cars, m/cycle clothing, bags, boots and cases this brand name is Liquid Leather. For furniture its Leather Preserve most of the products are the same, however some of the cleaners are different.
Gliptone products were the original products sold by World of Leather, Kingsbury Interiors, Harveys, Courts, Furnitureland, Pendragon Furniture, Fraylings Land of Leather, Yarwoods Leather and the Co-op. If you have or had products that smelt of leather they were ours (the only ones in the world!).
Gliptone still supplies more furniture manufacturers than any other company in the UK, including the largest and some of the most specialised, we supply the largest furniture retailer in the UK, in fact companies who put quality before price and want outstanding results.
Gliptone have products, advice and professional contacts to offer you care, answers to problems and solutions for anything leather. Illustrations of the efficiency of our products are on the Auto pages of our site.
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