Cleaning leather furniture takes time and attention to detail. After all, your leather couch or chair is an investment that you want to maintain with tender loving care. There are plenty of perils inside your home that are threatening to degrade and dull the appearance of your leather furniture.
Fight back with these leather furniture cleaning tips to ensure that your investment is well-protected for as long as you own it.
The Nature of Leather
The most important thing to keep in mind is that leather is a material that is constantly changing. As it ages, leather can start to adopt certain visual and textural characteristics that can severely alter the integrity of your material.
That’s why you need to be very careful about how you clean and care for your leather furniture. Your maintenance regimen will have a significant impact on the aesthetics and functionality of the material. With that said, here are some of the steps you should take to preserve the natural appearance and luster of leather furniture.
Cleaning Your Leather
Depending on the type of mess you’re dealing with, most spills or stains can be eliminated with just a simple mix of mild soap and warm water. Just dip a dry, clean cloth into the suds of your soapy water and wipe away the mess. But just be careful not to get your leather too wet, only dampen the area with your moistened cloth.
In the event you need to clean up something a bit more stubborn, you can skip the mild soap and warm water and turn to rubbing alcohol instead. Add the alcohol directly to the stain and then wipe gently but firmly. When you apply the rubbing alcohol to the leather, be sparing about it. You don’t want to douse more of the material than need be.
Be Sure to Dry the Leather Thoroughly
Much like with your carpet, anytime that leather becomes wet it must be allowed to dry entirely. Keep that in mind anytime you clean your furniture with water or rubbing alcohol. Moisture is not leather’s friend, so be sure you absorb as much of it with a dry, clean cloth or towel. After that, just let the air get to it. Air flow is vital to the proper drying of any material, but it’s particularly critical for drying out moist leather.
The Importance of Leather Cream
Keeping your leather looking and feeling its best is about more than just merely cleaning it. You need to care for it through the use of a good leather cream. So, once you’ve cleaned and dried the leather, you want to apply your leather cream with a clean cloth.
Just place the cream on the leather and the evenly rub over every inch of the material. You will need to then allow the cream to become absorbed into the supple surface of your leather. Buff the material for a nice, bright shiny finish after you’ve applied it. That last step is not essential but it can give your furniture that nice, professional-looking sheen.
