The focus of this piece is on upholstery leathers in the home or car. Upholstery leathers fall into three categories, Suede or Nubuck, Aniline, also known as wax or oil pull ups and Finished, also known as Protected, Semi-Aniline and Pigmented, this last category is the most popular for furniture and car seating.
It is also a misnomer to say you can clean leather, you can’t. Aniline type leathers can be re-conditioned but very little can be done for Suede. Most leather cleaning therefore focuses on Finished, where you are cleaning the finish applied over the leather rather than the leather itself.
For Aniline and Finished leathers the owner should wipe with a moist cloth on
a monthly basis and apply leather protector six monthly, this will help protect
the item from dirt and body oils and most importantly assist in retaining natural
moisture in the product.
If this has not happened and the item is starting to
look less than its best you need to call in a professional care technician. They
can advise on what type of leather you have and what can be done to restore it.
For
Finished leather this may include professional cleaning to remove dirt and dye
transfer, always most noticeable on light colour finishes. They can advise on
removing scratches, scuffs and cigarette burns, the re-colouring of antique finishes
and providing a care regime for the item.
For Aniline this may be a re-conditioning
to replace lost colour and to improve the look and feel of the piece. |
