A new leather sofa is a big investment. But like any other kind of investment, it really does pay to care for it properly – and that’s why leather sofa cleaning and care is so crucial.
Cleaning a leather sofa with the wrong products can actually damage it and cause cracking and discolouration.
The first stage of leather sofa care is to determine what type of leather your sofa is upholstered in. There are many different types of leather, each requiring treatment in its own special way.
The best way to determine which type of leather is used is to contact the manufacturer or seller or even better refer to any manufacturers guides that came with the product. These guidelines should assist you in finding out the best way to clean the sofa without invalidating any warranties.
Below are some general tips and hints that you may find useful if you no longer have any care instructions. In all cases we would strongly recommend that you try any of these methods on a small discreet area such as on the side or rear of the sofa just to ensure that whichever method is being used does not damage the sofa in any way.
If you no longer have the cleaning or maintenance instructions, you may find these leather sofa care hints and tips useful – but we’d always recommend you try out any of these methods in a discreet, unseen area of the sofa first, just to be sure there’s no adverse reaction from the leather.
Basic cleaning with soap and water
By cleaning your leather suite on a regular basis using a mild soapy solution with a small amount of water you can help remove a build up of dust and dirt and make sure it maintains its just brough new look.
As leather is a type of skin, over time the surface of the leather sofa can dry out especially when a suite is placed in a centrally heated environment. Moisture can be replaced by cleaning the sofa with soap and a very small amount of water ensuring that the water does not soak the sofa, the best way to do this is by dabbing the leather with a damp and soapy cloth.
Tackling stains on your leather sofa
Leather is a very durable material, however it can still stain especially with cream leather sofas or lighter coloured models. Of course black and brown leather sofas will not show stains and marks as much. You can buy specific products to tackle common stains, for example red wine can be soaked up using salt and vinegar can be carefully dabbed on to remove ink or biro stains
Leather Conditioner
Another great way to maintain the moisture in a leather sofas to use a specialised moisturising conditioner. Leather conditioner is widely available in supermarkets and online and is a very cost-effective way of keeping your sofas in tip top condition.
When purchasing leather sofas online or in-store most outlets will offer care and cleaning products specific to your sofas.
In summary, there are lots of products and methods of cleaning leather but make sure you do your research beforehand, using the wrong product can cause more damage than good.