This guide will explain how to clean leather. Cleaning leather is very simple and this guide will explain how to achieve excellent results when cleaning leather in cars, furniture, clothes & on all other items of leather.
To clean leather you need to use leather ultra clean. This is a very effective cleaner that deep cleans into the grain removing all dirt and grime from leather. Safe to use on all leather types except suede & nubuck, with outstanding results.
When cleaning leather, it is always best to clean the leather with a foam, rather than a liquid. Foam is safer as it reduces the chances of bleach type marks and streaks, more importantly though, foam cleaners are a lot more effective than liquids.
Spray the leather ultra clean onto a sponge and agitate it to create foam. Always spray the cleaner into a sponge and not directly onto the leather. A foaming bottle can be used to create foam for you.
Rub the sponge into the leather in a circular motion to loosen the dirt. As the dirt is removed the foam will absorb it stopping it from being transferred around the leather. Simply wipe the foam away with a cloth.
Most leathers should clean very well with a sponge. However, if your leather is very dirty, light coloured and has dirt in the grain, you will find it much easier cleaning the leather with a tampico brush.
You can see the area we cleaned in this photo using the leather ultra clean and a sponge.
After cleaning the next step is to protect & condition the leather.
Advantages of Protecting Leather
Applying the leather protection cream to leather after cleaning it is highly recommended for the following reasons;
1. The protection cream coats the leather with an invisible barrier (like scotchgard), which prevents the leather from absorbing dirt, grease & oils. Not only does this protect the leather by stopping these materials damaging the finish, but it also makes the leather easier to clean. After applying the protection cream to leather, it will wipe clean with a damp cloth since the dirt just sits on the barrier.
2. This barrier also reduces friction caused as you use the leather. Dirt and grime, combined with daily use slowly wear away the coatings on leather. The protection cream takes away this friction and so will help prolong the life of your leather.
3. Containing UV inhibitors the protection cream also helps prevent sun fading.
Conditioning Leather
Most modern leather has some form of protective coating on. This coating prevents creams, waxes, hide foods etc from being absorbed, and so applying such a product is pointless. Leather keeps its self moisturised by absorbing water vapour from the air through its flesh (suede) side. So you should always use a protection cream to protect leather, rather than to feed it.
There are instances however, when the leather surface becomes cracked or split, or in the case of older leathers, the surface coating has worn down and the leather feels dried out. In these cases the leather can be conditioned because the natural surface is exposed and a cream can be absorbed. It is for this reason that we supply our product in a cream form that will feed and moisturise the leather.
Leather Care Kit: A large leather care kit representing excellent value for money.
Pictures of Cleaned Leather
This photo shows an area where we have cleaned half of a seating cushion on a light coloured leather sofa.
This sofa was very dirty and hard to clean. So to make cleaning the leather easier, we used the tampico brush to work the dirt out of the grain.
This photo also shows an off white leather sofa with ingrained dirt and grime.
The leather has been cleaned along the stitch lines to show the effectivness of the leather cleaner.
You can also see that as leather gets dirty, it can become slightly shiny. Giving the leather a good clean removes the shine and the dirt.
This ivory colour car seat has been cleaned in the top centre of the seat.
Again, you can see that the dirty leather on the side bolsters is shiny. Giving the leather a thorough clean removes the dirt and removes the dirty shine.
If leather your is naturally shiny the cleaner will not remove the shine, it will restore it to its natural state.
