How to Clean Leather Furniture and Extend Its Lifetime

This is a guest post from American Classics Leather. One of my favorite pieces of furniture in our living room is our beautiful leather couch. It’s a lifetime piece for us and was quite pricey. This blog post shares some wonderful tips to take care of your leather.

Nothing completes a living room or office quite like an elegant piece of leather furniture. From ottomans to sectionals and everything in between, a piece of leather furniture can do wonders to transfer a room. But with a beautiful piece of furniture always comes the inevitable mess that can cause unwarranted stress. Why spend money on an expensive piece of leather furniture if it’s just going to endure spills and messes that can cause potential damage?

Worry no longer! One of the best parts about purchasing a new leather sofa, or any other piece of leather furniture, is that it is much easier to clean than its fabric counterpart. While recommended cleaning methods include a little more than just wiping them down with a cloth, it is much less likely that spills and messes will stain a piece of leather furniture when properly cared for.

The Hamilton Leather Sofa we have and love.

Cleaning Your Leather

To maintain the look and value of your new piece of leather furniture, it is recommended to clean it every three to six months. Here is the preferred step-by-step method for how to routinely clean any piece of leather furniture:

1. Vacuum the leather furniture piece using a soft brush attachment to ensure the vacuum does not cause any damage to the leather. Be sure to get the dirt out of all cracks and crevices.
2. Soak a soft cloth in an approved leather furniture cleaning solution and wring it out. Simple solutions that work great for cleaning leather furniture include two squirts of dish or hand soap mixed in a bowl of warm water.
3. Wipe down the entire piece of leather furniture with the wet cloth.
4. Using a dry, clean towel, wipe down the entire piece of furniture a second time to dry it.

Conditioning Your Leather

At this point, your piece of leather furniture is now clean as new. But is it as shiny as new? If not, you can restore its shine by following these next steps immediately after drying the furniture:

1. Purchase an approved leather furniture conditioning solution, or create one by combining one tablespoon of soap, two to three drops of white vinegar, two to three drops of flaxseed oil, and one quart of warm water.
2. Soak a second clean cloth in the solution and wring it out just like before.
3. Wipe down the entire piece of leather furniture with the wet cloth and let it airdry overnight.
4. The next day, use a third clean cloth to buff the piece of leather furniture.

Cleaning stains on a piece of leather furniture can be a little bit trickier, and the process changes slightly depending on the type of stain. Here are a few tactics for the more common types of stains that appear on leather furniture:

1. Ink stains – Dip a soft cloth or cotton swab into rubbing alcohol and rub on the stain until it is removed.
2. Permanent marker stains – Spray hairspray on the stain and gently rub with a soft cloth.
3. Grease stains – Cover the stain with baking soda and let it sit and absorb the grease or oil for a couple hours. Vacuum the baking soda off the furniture using a soft brush attachment. Repeat if necessary.
4. Mold or mildew stains – Create a solution with one-part warm water and one-part rubbing alcohol. Soak a soft cloth in the solution and wring it out. Gently rub the stain with the cloth until the stain is removed.

These tips and tactics usually work very well to keep any piece of leather furniture looking brand new. If your furniture still looks dirty or the stains refuse to come out, consult a professional for further advice.

Want to learn more about leather? Also read, 5 Questions to Ask When Buying Leather Furniture.

Thanks for the tips, American Classics Leather!