Professional Tips for Cleaning your Leather Upholstery
You do every possible thing to make your interiors exciting and attractive. Right from the picking co-coordinating window treatments, flooring, lighting, and of course the furniture, you luxuriously invest your time and money to make things happen the way you need.
Often leather is the most popular choice of house owners who give an utmost care designing their interiors. Because they know leather furniture can add comfort and luxury to any space. But it is also true that you need to work a lot for maintaining the appearance. The best practice is doing regular leather upholstery cleaning.
Even though leather is durable, the fabric will be easily susceptible to damage when subjected to an unclean environment. If you have kids at home you cannot help much in this matter. And having furry friends will just add more to your work. If one spills his favorite drink and the other takes the comfortable leather sofa to be its poop spot, it’s easy to anticipate the condition of your leather furniture.
The material/fabric will easily lose its shine and appear faded over time. For the reason, you should schedule your leather upholstery cleaning and follow the program always.
But what is your leather furniture made of? Is it finished or unfinished/natural leather?
This is important to understand.
Normally, it is easier to clean finished upholstery furniture, but it’s not the same case for unfinished/natural leather furniture.
Finished leather furniture comes with a top coating, so any sort of food/oil spill; you can easily clean the mess. However, the unfinished/natural leather does not come with any such protective coating and for the reason, easily absorbs the liquid.
It doesn’t matter what kind of leather furniture you have at your home. But your cleaning methods definitely matter. It matters how you are going to keep your upholstery furniture clean without damaging them.
Professional leather cleaners normally find their clients using home cleaning solutions for cleaning their leather furniture. According to them, using home-based cleaning solutions is a bad practice; it will reduce the durability of the furniture.
For the reason, they have given few tips that you help you care your leather furniture in a right way.
Cleaning Protected/Finished Leather
As said earlier, protected leather furniture appear more uniform and clean. In addition to that, the protective coating allows easier cleaning of spills and stains. However, professionals suggest that homeowners should never use cleaning solutions that contain ammonia or alkali’s as that would completely damage the leather.
How to clean protected leather furniture?
- Use a vacuum cleaner with a brush attachment to clean the furniture. Normally, this process will allow you to remove all the surface dirt and soil particles.
- Use a mild cleaning solution. Dip a microfiber cloth and wipe the furniture.
Note: To make sure there is no discoloration or fading, test the cleaning solution on some unnoticeable spot.
- Take another dry cloth, use distilled water and clean your furniture again.
- Use a clean towel and dry the furniture.
Cleaning Unprotected/Unfinished Leather
The unprotected/unfinished leather upholstery furniture is naturally sensitive, so never use harsh cleaning solutions. Also, unfinished leather is highly absorbent. Apart from the difference in their physical features, the leather type also requires different cleaning technique.
According to professional leather cleaners, it is necessary you identify the type of leather furniture you have at home. Then cleaning the furniture will be a breeze.
How to clean unprotected/natural leather furniture?
You have to take extra care while cleaning the natural leather furniture. As the surface can easily absorb stains, you can damage the surface while trying to remove the stain.
If you are really unsure about the cleaning of such leather type then you can always call the professionals.
However, there are few simple tips that you can carry out for cleaning natural leather furniture. In case you see a stain then follows these simple steps.
- For removing a water-based stain, just dip a dry cloth in distilled water and work on the spot. Once the stain is removed, allow the spot to dry.
- In case the stain is dry and stubborn, use a mild cleaning solution. Before using cleaning agents consult a specialist for the same.
- Blot the stain using lukewarm water and a mild cleaning agent. Work gently so you don’t spread the stain.
- Once the stain disappears, clean the spot with a clean cloth dipped in distilled water.
- Leave the area to dry.
After the cleaning the furniture, you can apply any good leather conditioner. Just make sure you check the care label on the furniture. You’ll keep the leather furniture soft and supple for a longer time.
Conclusion
Leather furniture does not come cheap, so you need to do a lot of caring to keep it functional and durable for longer years. You should be specific in your cleaning methods. For better results, just before you clean, understand the type of leather, so you don’t end up damaging your expensive furniture.