leather furniture Tag
Hair spray has always been a favorite fix-all by old wives’ tale believers. Hair spray has been hailed as a solution for stain removal, stopping runs in tights and is now being used to remove stains from leather furniture.
While many of the ladies here at Fibrenew do insist that it works wonders on stocking runs, we are all 100 percent in agreement that you should NEVER try using it on leather.
There are two main reasons not to use hair spray on leather furniture or other upholstery:
- A lot of hair spray contains alcohol, and alcohol damages the surface of all types of leather upholstery. While you may not see the damage right after you spray it on, you will notice that it breaks down the leather’s ability to protect itself from damage down the road. This is especially true for fully-finished leather.
- Hair spray is always going to leave your leather feeling a little sticky. You might think of this as a minor nuisance and just wait for it to wear off, but the truth is that “just a little sticky” is actually more problematic than you might think. The hair spray residue will attract little tiny pieces of dirt and dust that you might not be able to see with the naked eye. This will cause abrasion as people move around on your upholstery, breaking down the protective topcoat on fully-finished leather and digging into and damaging semi-aniline or aniline leather.
There are a number of other home remedies and wives’ tales about using home products on leather. We do not advise using:
Questions or experiences with hair spray on leather? Post them in the comments!
The business of dying leather is a tricky one, and you really can’t replicate it with any marker. People come to us all the time asking us to fix problems they’ve created trying to fix a bleached out or discolored spot on their upholstery with a similarly colored marker. The fact of the matter is that dyed leather usually has many layers and tones, and thinking you can find one marker that’s going to give you an exact match is like thinking a bottle of cheap hair dye is going to give your hair a natural look.
An example of a spot filled in with a brown marker
Now, if you just have a teeny tiny spot somewhere pretty hidden on your couch, car seat, etc. you might find marker results to be sufficient. But, if you want a discolored spot to match the rest of the piece, you really shouldn’t go the marker route. A professional, like Fibrenew, can usually re-dye spots for a very reasonable price.
There are a number of other home remedies and wives’ tales about using home products on leather. We do not advise using any of the following:
Questions or experiences with markers on leather? Post them in the comments!
Most people, myself included, think of window cleaner as being one of the mildest of all cleaners. People consider it to be so mild they could use it on almost anything. Unfortunately, you really cannot use window cleaner on leather upholstery because almost all of it contains alcohol.
Alcohol will damage the surface of your leather, especially breaking down the protective top coat on fully-finished leathers that make up the vast majority of the leather upholstery market. Breakdown of this surface will leave your upholstery more susceptible to all types of damage in the future, like scratching and water damage.
Alcohol can also, in some cases, cause discoloration in leather.
This footrest has been slightly discolored with an orange hue because of an alcohol cleaner.
This couch has a slightly discolored mark because the owner used a cleaner with alcohol in it.
There are a number of other home remedies and wives’ tales about using home products on leather. We do not advise using any of the following:
Questions or experiences with window cleaner or other cleaners containing alcohol? Post them in the comments!
It’s true that finger nail polish will remove marks on leather upholstery, but it also removes the dyes that are supposed to be on the leather, leaving a bleached out spot on your leather’s surface. Finger nail polish also wears down the top coat on fully-finished leathers, leaving them more susceptible to damage.
Fingernail polish remover took the color out of this couch when the owner tried to use it to remove the pen mark.
There are a number of other home remedies and wives’ tales about using home products on leather including. We discourage the use of:
Questions or experiences with nail polish remover? Post them in the comments!
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!
