Scotclean Solutions carpet and upholstery cleaning company in Glasgow provides a full Leather cleaning, leather colour enhancing and leather repair service in Glasgow.
We are often asked by customers how to clean and maintain their leather so we have created this 3 part guide to cleaning and protecting your leather.
- Need to know how to clean your leather sofa?
- Or how to go about repairing your leather sofa?
This leather cleaning guide will help you on your way to help you clean your leather sofa and more importantly tell you what cleaning methods to avoid when cleaning your leather sofa or when cleaning any leather upholstery for that matter.
PART 1 LEATHER IDENTIFICATION
How to identify your leather type and examples of the different types of leather.
Some customers are looking for a quick fix and some are looking to maintain the leather between cleans.
We have heard some horror stories from customers regarding old wives tales and just plain old miss-information thats always present on the internet.
The problems begin when folk assume that all leather was created equal, to the average everyday person this is the case.
In the real world leather is a fickle natural material, with all the beauty and natural markings that go with the conditions and environment in which the animal was raised.
The variables a professional Leather cleaning company will consider when inspecting your leather include things like the type of hide, each animal used in the production of leather has very different properties and will react differently to the various treatment process the leather undergoes in the manufacturing process.
HOW TO IDENTIFY YOUR LEATHER TYPE
At Scotclean Solutions, Our leather cleaning technicians would not start cleaning before we had identified the leather type.
For the home DIY cleaner, this is where the problems really start, again those who know leather will know that leather in it’s purest form, Aniline leather, is the most beautiful leather available. It’s also the most difficult leather to care for and the most susceptible to damage by incorrect cleaning techniques and solutions.
Aniline leather is so expensive and exclusive you will probably know if you own a piece of aniline upholstered furniture. Most customers can tell us it’s an aniline piece when they call to book our leather cleaning service.
Aniline Leather
some of the characteristics of Aniline leather.
- very soft to touch
- natural grain of the leather is visible.
- it’s an absorbent leather.
- colour is dye based, not surface pigment coated.
- Natural, uneven colour shading
- not resistant to soiling
If you have stains on your Aniline leather then you should always seek the services of a professional leather cleaning specialist. Do not attempt home cleaning unless you are confident you know what you are doing, Any moisture on the leather will cause water marks
HOW TO IDENTIFY ANILINE LEATHER:
- take your finger and lick the end so it’s slightly wet, choose an unnoticeable part on your leather item and place your finger on the leather for a few seconds, if the leather has darkened and is damp when you remove your finger then it is very likely aniline leather.
NEVER EVER EVER USE BABY WIPES TO CLEAN ANILINE LEATHER. You will destroy the finish on the leather and full re colour restoration will result in a four figure bill.
A professional cleaning company will use a foam based cleaning solution to clean your aniline leather. We never apply anything directly onto the leather, always using special leather cleaning sponges or natural horse hair brushes designed to dislodge dirt while being gentle on the leather finish.
Semi Aniline Leather
Some of the characteristics of Semi Aniline leather.
- Light surface coating
- Colour is pigment dye applied to leather surface
- More resistant to soiling
- Consistent colour
- light resistance to spillages
Semi aniline Leather is more robust than natural aniline leather as the colour is applied as a pigment sprayed onto the leather finish. This allows manufactures to produce leather in consistent colours throughout their ranges.
Semi aniline leather is cleaned in the same way by a professional leather cleaning company.
HOW TO IDENTIFY SEMI ANILINE LEATHER:
- Using a magnifying glass is one of the best ways to check, if you examine the leather you will see the grain and hair follicles visible but coated in a fine layer of pigment, The lacquer finish on the pigment also makes semi aniline leather more slippery to the touch.
Pigment coated leather
Some of the characteristics of pigment coated leather
- easy to care for
- wipe clean surface
- extremely resistant to stains
- water resistant, deals with spills well
- extremely durable and hard wearing
- long life span
- wide assortment of bright vibrant colours available.
Pigment coated leather is finished with a polymer paint coating with a protective lacquer layer on the pigment. This is one of the easiest leathers to care for at home and is used by a a majority of lather furniture manufactures from budget sofas to high end leather furniture.
HOW TO IDENTIFY PIGMENT COATED LEATHER
Pigment coated leather can be easily identified if the leather item is brightly and vibrantly coloured, failing this testing the water absorption will identify pigment coated leather as the pigment finish with lacquer finish provides a waterproof seal to the leather stopping water absorption. The wet finger test explained in the aniline test will help identify pigment coated leather.
At Scotclean Solutions Leather repair Glasgow, our cleaning technicians also protect the leather once we have finished cleaning. This is essential with any leather we clean although it is more important with aniline and semi aniline leather. The reason for this is the protector we use protects the finish the manufacturers apply to the Leather. With semi aniline leather the pigment coating is applied thinly to preserve the natural feel and grain of the leather as much as possible. The manufactures finish will break down over time with use, wear and exposure to the environment. Once gone, the leather is left susceptible to cracking, discolouring and becomes absorbent taking on body oils with ease.
Thats all for this part of our cleaning series. How to clean a leather sofa.
If you have any questions about your leather cleaning please see our website www.scotcleansolutions.co.uk and use the contact form to drop us a mail.
We try to respond to all questions within 24 hours.
Thanks for reading our Blog. We will be back with more next week, until then, keep it clean folks 🙂
Jamie.
Restoration tech at http://www.scotcleansolutions.co.uk
Scotclean Solutions Glasgow.
Scotclean Solutions Commercial Cleaning Glasgow 