Re-post: Caring for Leather Furniture

Leather furniture is an investment, so good maintenance is important. Here are some do's and don'ts for getting your leather to age well:

1. Avoid seemingly harmless cleaners such as oil soap; it will stain and darken the leather. And mild soap, though gentle on dish-washing hands, not only will remove the dirt but just might remove the color on the leather as well. Saddle soap may be good for that catcher's mitt, but keep it away from leather furniture.

2. Don't use soap or detergent, no matter how mild. We can use mild soap on our skin because our skin is still alive and will replace the oils that soap washes off, but a leather sofa doesn't have that ability. It will eventually become brittle, dry and damaged. Why not wash with soap and then apply oil? Because the oil will stain the leather

3. Avoid placing leather furniture in direct sunlight. Virtually nothing is safe for long in the light and heat of the sun. Avoid extreme temperatures that would cause leather to dry and crack. If you're too cold or too hot in a room, so is the leather. Don't place leather next to air conditioners or radiators.

4. Blot spills quickly using clean terry cloth towels or paper towels. If you spill grease or oil, use talcum powder or baking powder to help absorb it. There are also leather-furniture cleaners that would work, available from upper-end furniture stores and from some manufacturers of leather furniture.

5. If leather furniture is brand new, protect it right off the bat with a professionally applied leather protector. There are also products available for do-it-yourselfers on the after-market. If the furniture is older, have it cleaned professionally and apply the leather protector. Keep the furniture free of dust and occasionally wipe it with a barely damp cloth.

Source: Caring for Leather Furniture

Do not use shoe polish on leather upholstery

It is a common mistake to use shoe polish on leather upholstery.  People try to use it on furniture and on their leather car seats, but it doesn’t work.

The leather used in upholstery is tanned differently from the leather in shoes.  It does not soak up shoe polish like shoes do, so the polish will just sit on the surface of your leather and make a sticky mess.

Depending on the type of damage, you may have a number of other alternatives.  Professional leather repair experts can usually fix scuffed, faded, torn or otherwise damaged leather for a fraction of the cost of replacing or reupholstering furniture and auto seats.

There are a number of other home remedies and wives’ tales about using home products on leather.  We do not advise using the following:

•     Olive oil
•     Beeswax
•     Hair spray
•     Markers
•     Window cleaner
•     Finger nail polish remover
•     Disposable cleaning supplies and wipes

Questions or experiences with shoe polish?  Post them in the comments or visit www.fibrenew-franchising.com!

Source: Fibrenew

How to keep auto interior looking new

Eating fast food in your car is unavoidable on some busy days, and we’ve all had those, “Oh crap!” moments when fries went flying all over the car seat.  Although this isn’t unusual or uncommon, it’s probably not something you should brush off too lightly if you have leather seats. Grease and oil, even just the natural oils in your skin, can really add up and cause damage to your leather seats. In fact, oil (from food or just the oil in your skin) is one of the main reasons leather car seats end up looking old and worn.

How does oil damage leather car seats?

There are two main ways that oil causes damage to leather auto seats:

1. Oil combines with little bits of dust and dirt, acting like a fine sand paper that wears down the protective coating on your seats as passengers get in and out of your car.  That protective layer makes your leather seats more resilient to scratches, water and heat damage as well as other types of wear and tear, so, once that layer is worn thin, your seats are more susceptible to all types of damage.

2. When oil gets on your leather seats, especially once it starts to break down that protective coating, it is soaked into the back side of the leather—the part you can’t see.  Over time, the leather will “fill up,” and the oil will rise to the surface. Once the oil saturates the leather, the result is typically ugly oil stains.

How to prevent oil damage to your auto seats

To prevent oil damage, you should clean and protect your car seats 6-8 times a year, cleaning the most used areas more frequently than those that aren’t used very often. Check out our leather cleaning post for tips on leather cleaning and protection.

Additionally, never treat your leather with olive oil, petroleum or any other type of oil. A lot of people do to try to prevent drying, but the oil you use will get soaked up just like any other oil, resulting in spots and discoloration.

How do I get rid of oil damage?

If you find oil spots on your car seats, you can try to remove them by rubbing the area with a soft leather cleaner. You may be able to temporarily remove the spot, but since more oil remains deep within the leather, you will probably see it resurface over time.

Depending on the extent of the damage, a professional may be able to do a more thorough cleaning of the leather seat than you will be able to do yourself, as they have special cleaning tools and processes that can cleanse deep into the leather.

Post any additional questions in the comments or visit us at Fibrenew Franchising.

Source: Fibrenew

There's A Leather Seat Crisis In The World's Auto Industry

Want leather seats in your new luxury car? Join the crowd.

Even non-luxury buyers have come to expect this amenity, according to Bloomberg.

But there's a problem. Leather comes from cows — and the size of the U.S. herd is dropping to levels not seen since right after World War II.

Bloomberg's Lydia Mulvany cited Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Kevin Tynan on the trend.

“You’re seeing luxury content moving down further into lower priced vehicles,” he said. “The buyer is getting more for their money right now, and it’s enabling buyers to stretch a little further and say, I can do a leather interior or a luxury car.” . . . Read More!

There are many reasons why repairing cracked vinyl and plastic or damaged leather in your car, boat, airplane, home or office is good for the environment. leather and vinyl repair servicesFibrenew technicians have the equipment and expertise to make cracks, stains, scratches, holes, rips and fades in leather, plastic, vinyl, fabric and upholstery look new again. Restoration is an environmentally-friendly and cost-effective alternative to replacement. For more info about leather repair visit us at www.fibrenew-franchising.com.

Learn about the different kinds of leather

When considering adding to your leather collection, it’s important to know what you’re looking for. What type of leather is best suited to your needs? To assist in some of the research, Fibrenew franchising is showing you the pros and cons of the three main types of leather.

Aniline Leather
Aniline leather is considered the most natural looking leather. Some people refer to it as “naked leather” because of how natural it looks. It is known to be very soft and comfortable. A lot of people enjoy aniline leather because it preserves each marking it receives, making each piece completely unique. While this type of leather can be very visually pleasing, it is a material that is easily strained. If you have a busy family or high traffic in your home, this is a type of leather you may want to avoid.

Semi-Aniline Leather
The main difference between semi-aniline and aniline leather is the light protective coat semi-aniline receives. This protective coat is useful because it makes the material more resistant to strain and stains, which helps it to last longer. The color in semi-aniline leather is also more consistent than in aniline leather. The downside to this type of leather is the protective coat leads to less uniqueness; the leather does not retain markings as well with the protective coat.

Pigmented/Protected Leather
The most durable type of leather available, pigmented leather is covered with a polymer surface coating that contains pigments. This coating gives the leather more resistance to scratching, scuffing or fading. Pigmented leather does not have the unique qualities of other types of leather, as the sealant prevents marks from staying on the material. Pigmented leather is an excellent choice for busy families who have high traffic in their homes. Pigmented leather is easy to maintain and makes for an excellent couch or lounge chair material.

As you can see, there are good and bad aspects to every type of leather available. Being informed about which kind works best for your lifestyle is important when purchasing leather furniture. Happy shopping!

How to clean and repair your leather furniture

When it comes to repairing and caring for leather furniture, there are hundreds of options.  Furniture stores and online retailers offer up products that do everything from cleaning to dying leather.  However, you should proceed with extreme caution when you use these DIY products on your furniture.  I’ve heard and seen the effects of horror stories where these products ruined people’s leather furniture, so here are a few pointers on what to look out for.

1. Don’t use any products that contain alcohol or acetone.  Alcohol seeps into and damages the protective surface of furniture leather.  Acetone will remove the dye and color from leather.

2. Be sure to use products designed for upholstery.  Leather used for shoes, jackets and clothing is very different than that used in furniture.

3. Only use products designed for the type of leather you have.  Most furniture is made of aniline, semi-aniline or fully-finished leather.  Because of the differences in finish, it is very important to use only products designed for the leather you have.

4. Dying leather is a highly specialized art.  Professionals receive extensive training on color matching and dying, and it’s not at all likely that any DIY dye kit will produce very good dying results.  So, be very careful with these products – test them on a part of the furniture that no one will ever see before you use it on the visible part of the piece.

5. Stay away from products that say they are for multiple surfaces, even if one of those surfaces is leather.  Most of the time these products contain elements that will damage leather.  It is best to stick with products made specifically for leather.

Also, there are lots of people out there who have heard old wives’ tales about household products to use on leather.  Some of these can be helpful, but there are many that do not work and will ruin your leather furniture.  One example is using olive oil to fix minor dings and scratches on leather.  People also try using finger nail polish remover, shoe polish and window cleaner, among other things, to work on damaged leather.  All of these options can cause major damage to your leather down the road.

Any questions?  Have any experiences with leather products to share?  Post them in the comments!

Reasons: Cracked Motorcycle and Car Leather Seats

Most car interior leather and motorcycle seats are fully finished, and there are a couple of reasons why it cracks. Cracking usually occurs when the protective coating on fully finished leather is worn down or when there has been a manufacturer problem.

1. Body oil and dirt can cause leather to crack -

It is very easy for dirt and oils to collect on the surface of leather.  Together, these act like a fine sand paper, breaking down the protective layer on fully finished leather over time, eventually leading to visible cracks at the surface.  Once the protective layer is broken down, the leather underneath, which is incredibly porous, soaks up the dirt and oil sitting on its surface causing further abrasion and damage.

2. A manufacturer problem can cause leather to crack -

Tanneries put a layer of dye and a protective top coating on cow hide (almost like paint on drywall) to make fully finished leather.  Leather has a lot of give and will stretch and move as people sit and slide around on it, so the manufacturer needs to stretch it properly before they put on the dye and protective top coating.  If they don’t stretch it well, the leather will quickly stretch more than the dye can handle, and the coating will crack.

Once leather is cracked, a leather repair professional can typically fix it, however, it is much cheaper and easier to clean and take care of your leather seats from the start than to deal with cracking after it happens.

We’d be happy to answer any additional questions you have.  Please post questions in the comments below.

How to keep your leather chair last longer

For general cleaning and preservation of leather, you need to use a good quality water-based leather cleaner. You should NEVER use anything containing oils, waxes or silicone. (Most ‘conditioners’ contain waxes or oils and furniture polish contains silicone) . DO NOT use mink oil. A bottle of good quality leather cleaner should do your furniture 1-2 times.

Baby wipes are the worst thing you can use as they will destroy the finish on your leather. They are very strong alkaline cleaners to neutralize urine (acid) on baby’s skin so they are not the right thing to use on leather.

Saddle soap is too harsh to use on today’s leathers and saddles need treating in a different way to furniture. A lot of leather wipes contain chemicals which will destroy the finish or leave residues on the leather which will damage it.

Fairy liquid and household soaps contain more salt these days to get things clean and this will break the finish down on your leather. This has been verified by the manufacturers (as with the baby wipes).

You should also follow cleaning with a good water based leather protector which will act like a ‘scotchgard’ and inhibit dirt and stains from being absorbed and make cleaning easier the next time.

It is important to maintain a regular cleaning regime. Cleaning dirt off the surface regularly and inhibiting the absorption of body oils into the leather with a protector is the best.

Using household products may appear to work but will, in the long run, deteriorate the leather finish quicker and it may then be impossible to restore. It may seem cheaper to use products from the supermarket but if they do not work or damage the leather then it is a short sighted saving.

If the finish or leather has started to show signs of wear or cracking then cleaners will not help you. You will need to call a technician who will be able to do repair/restoration work on it. Do not be tempted by DIY products as they can lead to additional problems.

For more info about leather care and franchising opportunity visit www.fibrenew-franchising.com.

Source: Fibrenew Blog!