Caring for Your Leather Sofa

It is quite ironic how some homeowners go to extreme lengths to make sure their homes are spic and span, yet they have no idea how to take care of their furniture. Perhaps they don’t know where and how to begin or they think that furniture maintenance is cumbersome and time-consuming. However, if you appreciate the value of your furniture, you would do everything possible to keep these looking good. This is especially true if you have a leather couch or sofa.

 

Just the material with which the sofa is made of is enough for you to acknowledge that you need to provide necessary maintenance treatment to keep the sofa looking attractive and functional for years on end.

Nevertheless, it is impossible to avoid accidental spills and scratching from ruining your leather sofa. So what should you do when these happen? Well, you cannot perform a miracle and wish for the problems simply to disappear but you can somehow retard or minimize the effects.

Given that the leather used to make the sofa comes from dead animals, the hide would certainly have natural markings and imperfections. No amount of treatment would remove these markings, and this is why you need to be able to differentiate natural leather markings from spoils or scratches. Doing so would help you find the best product or method to use to take care of your leather sofa. Some natural markings that mar the leather are folds and gatherings, natural discoloration, insect bite marks, and grain variation across the leather.

Leather care products for your sofa need not be expensive. In fact, you can use stuff normally found in your household to keep your leather sofa looking spiffy. Some of these products include petroleum jelly, mink oil, lanolin, shaving cream, or a mixture of milk salve and glycerin. Of course, you can also buy branded products that are usually stronger and can penetrate the leather deeply to remove dirt and stubborn stains.

However, it is always best to take care of your leather sofa from the get-go. Aside from protecting the sofa from sharp objects for obvious reasons, here are some other things you could do to take care of your sofa:

1. As much as possible, you need to place the leather sofa away from windows or any source of sunlight to prevent it from fading or cracking. Direct exposure to sunlight is detrimental to your leather sofa.
2. Vacuum your sofa as often as possible using the cleaner’s soft brush attachment so as not to damage the leather. Dirt deposits on the leather can also cause fading and cracking, so you need to rid the sofa of these regularly.
3. Clean the sofa using a damp cloth dipped in a mild soap solution. Don’t forget to wipe off the soap and water solution using a dry cloth to avoid fungal attack caused by moisture.
4. Soften the leather and make it shine by applying 1-2 coats of leather conditioner.
5. Using commercial detergents or car cleaning solutions is the fastest way to ruin your leather sofa. So never ever use these products to clean your sofa.
6. Remove ink stains from the leather sofa using hairspray but not before you perform a test on an unnoticeable part of the sofa.
7. If an area on your leather sofa seems greasy, rub it with talcum powder or cornstarch, let sit for a couple of minutes, and then wipe with a dry rag.
8. Plump cushions to maintain the shape. In addition, rotate the cushions for even wearing out.

No matter how expensive your leather sofa is if you don’t know how to maintain it, all your efforts would be for naught. Therefore, make sure to keep these simple tips handy to keep your sofa looking great.