Leather Furniture Care Guide

Leather Furniture Care Guide – Key Points

Welcome to our leather furniture care guide. Quite apart from creating a classically stylish and luxurious look in any part of the home, leather furniture can prove to be a hard-wearing and durable option which provides excellent value for money in the long term – despite typically higher retail prices. However, to get the full benefit of your investment on leather, it is vital to take appropriate measures to ensure your purchase is properly cared for and maintained.

With just a little time and effort, your leather furniture can look it’s best for many years to come. And like all the best things in life, it can even improve with age, becoming softer, more supple, and taking on a depth and richness of colour which synthetic alternatives cannot hope to replicate. It’s got to be worth the effort, so we’ve put together this leather furniture care guide to help you maintain the superb appearance and feel of your leather furniture.

Carefully consider positioning

Where you place your furniture in a room will have a profound effect on how it is used, in turn impacting on the degree to which it is likely to suffer from wear and tear over time. If you want to ensure your leather furniture is subject to minimum wear, avoid placing it opposite your television or in high-traffic areas such as in between kitchen and lounge zones in an open-plan space, or immediately adjacent to doorways.

Heat can cause leather to crack or dry out, so avoid placing leather furniture too close to radiators. To be sure of avoiding heat damage, the absolute minimum distance is 50cm. Also, direct sunlight can cause leather to fade. This can be avoided by keeping your leather furniture away from windows or positioning it in an area which is often shaded.

Protect and maintain

Invest in a good quality leather protection cream or wax at the time of purchase and apply regularly from the outset. This will nourish and renew your leather, and act as a barrier to protect it from water, dust, and whatever else a busy household might throw at it.

As with all soft furniture, remember to plump up any cushions daily, and clean carefully with a vacuum cleaner to avoid dust build-up.

Avoid scratches, stains and spillages

Of course, accidents will always happen from time to time, but there are a few simple precautions you can take to minimise the occurrence of scratches, spillages and stains. It may sound obvious, but try to resist the temptation to eat a main meal while sitting on your leather furniture. If you have pets, remember to close the door of the room in which your leather furniture is located at night. It is also worth considering placing matching covers over the arms of sofas or armchairs, which can be cheaply and easily replaced if scratching does occur.

Avoid wearing dyed denim whilst sitting on light leather furniture as this can transfer onto the leather, especially when damp. Finally, remember to keep some soft tissue nearby so that any spillages can be mopped up swiftly before they are able to sink into the leather.

Repair and Renew

If the methods described above sound like they might prevent you from of enjoying your prized leather furniture to the fullest, you will be pleased to learn that, with just a little patience and a few basic accessories, it is relatively easy to carry out small repairs yourself.

Light scuffing can be smoothed away using a good leather conditioner, and even the appearance of deeper scratches can be greatly improved using leather repair kits. It is also possible to purchase kits which enable you to repair small tears, however this will require more time and effort, and while it may delay the need for a professional repair, it is not recommended as a long-term solution. With leather scratch repair kits, however, it is possible to use the synthetic fillers, colour-matching waxes and conditioners included to restore the finish to a virtually as-new standard.