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All leather furniture and leather goods will need some care and attention. Whether it's just regular care such as cleaning with a leather conditioner or applying some leather protection cream to prevent cracked leather, there are lots of things you can do to keep your leather couch, car seats, or clothes looking the way it should.
But sometimes, you'll let your leather go. And when you do, you'll need help. Thankfully, leather sofa restoration is easy enough to do - so long as you know how to do it, and what you'll need to get it done.
Lucky for you, we here at The Leather Colour Doctor have everything you need in both departments. Today, we'll talk you through the leather sofa restoration process and talk about some of our products that will help you along the way.
So if you're ready, then let's dive in...
There's a difference between regular care and maintenance of your leather sofas and leather sofa restoration.
Proper care and maintenance of your leather products - everything from leather couches to leather car seats, leather clothing to leather furniture of all kinds - is something you'll have to do. Well, you'll have to do it if you want to keep the leather goods looking and feeling great, and that's true of all types of leather. This will prevent cracking, worn leather, and protect it from general wear and tear from everyday life.
All you'll need here is a leather care kit. Something simple, like our leather care kit, which contains our leather cleaner solution and leather protection cream/conditioner. This will help you protect the leather surface, but it isn't for a big leather restoration or leather repair job. For that, you'll need a lot more - but we'll cover that below.
First, let's look at signs that your leather sofa needs more than just a deep clean and some leather conditioner:
If you have any/all of these leather problems, then you'll need to follow our guide to leather sofa restoration below. Leather restoration and leather repair can be time-consuming, but with professional advice and products from us here at The Leather Colour Doctor, you'll find it's easy enough to do yourself at home without professional services needing to be involved.
Leather restoration will mean you prevent further damage to the leather, you will protect the leather surface moving forwards, and your leather sofas will look and feel much better. So it's worth doing.
Before we talk you through how to do it, you'll need to know what you need to get started - and the following advice applies to most types of leather, but you'll still always want to try a patch test before using any products on leather furniture or clothing. That way, if the product responds strangely to your leather, it'll be in an inconspicuous area, like the underside of the cushions where the surface isn't easily seen.
You can create a handy leather repair kit from us by purchasing our leather cleaning kit, our leather re-colouring kit, our leather finishing kit, and our leather sanding pad, which will provide you with most of what you'll need to restore your leather sofas and leave you with extra to help with care moving forward.
The first thing you'll need to do before you restore any leather sofa is clean it. By cleaning it thoroughly, you can remove any dirt and debris, so the products you use will adhere better and help fill the cracks, tears, and general wear.
Start by vacuuming your leather sofas. You'll need to be careful here if the leather sofa is particularly damaged or worn - just apply pressure lightly as you thoroughly vacuum your couch so there is no dirt or debris remaining.
Next, you'll need our cleaning solution. Apply a small amount in a thin layer with a clean cloth or sponge, rotating in a circular motion to work our foam cleaner into the leather. Leave for a while to penetrate the leather's thin layers so it can really clean the material for the next stages.
Once you've allowed the leather sofa to dry, wipe it over with a clean cloth so the area you're working on is dry for the next stages.
If your leather sofa or chair has an obvious stain, then you'll also need to work hard to make sure the fix works. Removing a stubborn stain is a little harder than just using a cleaning solution, so here's what you'll need to do.
Our cleaner is a great place to start. Rub a little cleaning solution into the leather in a circular motion using a clean cloth. Allow to dry and then check the results after wiping. If it needs more work, move on to the next step.
A deep conditioner might be necessary to remove a stain. Use our product just like the cleaning solution - a little product rubbed into the small area where the stained area is - and then allow it to dry. If this alone doesn't work, then there are some other helpful tips below that might help remove the stains and return your furniture to its original color again.
For all the tips and tricks below, make sure you test on an inconspicuous area first - like the underside of cushions - before you jump right in to prevent damage to your leather furniture.
The above tips should help fix difficult to clean areas.
Now we're on to the real restoration part, where you'll start to see your old leather sofa looking like new again.
The first thing you'll need is a leather repair set that will allow you to use leather glue/binder (super glue also works, but it's best to buy leather-specific products where possible), leather filler, dye, and your sanding pad.
Start by cutting the loose fibres from the scratched area. This will make filling the crack or tear much easier and it will allow the leather to bind together much easier.
Using either super glue, or a leather specific glue/binder, and a sponge, apply a small amount on to the area. It's important that you don't use excess glue or it may stick to the rest of the leather sofa, and you'll need to clean it thoroughly again later. Once the patched area is together, you can use a heat gun to help the binder dry. Once the edges are all dry, use another layer of binder/glue. You'll need to do this 8-10 times for a strong bond that will fix the scratches or tear. The multiple coats will ensure the leather or suede material stays together.
As soon as the area with the tear is dry, use our sanding pad to make the repair area even. It's important that you do this to create a soft, smooth area for the next product.
If filling a large patch that needs repair due to excessive wear, then you'll need to use a leather filler so the surface is even. Apply a leather filler using a palette knife and allow to dry between layers. If the cracks in the couch are bad, then it may take a couple of applications to fix the cracks. Just keep applying until it's even and filled, and then use our sanding pad on the surface again to even it out.
When filling scratches, cracks, and wear and tear on leather furniture, you'll need to use leather dye or colour to restore the couch to its original color. This will provide a professional finish that makes the patch almost invisible if you do it right.
Make sure you pick a dye that's as close to your leather furniture colour as possible, or the restoration will be obvious. Remember, too, that if you use a lighter dye than your sofa, the patch will be extremely obvious.
Once you've found the perfect dye, you'll need to build up the colour. Simply rub the product into the leather surface to change the colour. Use only a little again. The key to restoration here is using only a little colour at a time so you can build it up to look most like the original.
Work the dye into the leather furniture, wipe away any excess quickly, and then leave to dry. Check the colour, and then repeat. How many coats you'll need depends on your sofa, but as soon as it matches the colour of the sofa, stop.
To finish, you'll need our leather finishing/sealing kit to help restore the patch to more closely resemble the rest of the furniture leather. Use a clean cloth to apply the sealant. This will just keep everything looking great for the future, and help protect it from discolouration. Wipe away any excess with a paper towel and then leave to dry.
With that, your leather furniture repair/restore job should be complete. Leather restoration isn't ideal, of course, because it's always best to properly care for your leather furniture before the surface is damaged enough to need a restoration job.
So, once you've successfully restored your couch, make sure you stay on top of its maintenance using our products to keep it clean and protected moving forwards.
Hopefully, our post today has proven that you don't need to hire professional services to restore your leather couch. With the right products and expertise from us here at The Leather Colour Doctor, the restoration of your leather couch can be quick and perfect!
