Common Leather Damage and Repair

Common Leather Damage and Repair

Leather furniture can often be an attractive addition to any home. However, it can be extremely vulnerable to scratches, blemishes, stains, and fading. Unfortunately, this can begin to diminish the appearance and value of your furniture. Below is some of the most common leather damages and how they can be repaired to bring them back to their former glory.

Marks, Scuffs, and Scratches

Marks and scratches on leather furniture are common, especially if there are pets or children in your home. Household items like pens and children’s toys are often the cause for these damages. While these damages may not always be simple to restore there are ways to fix them. For example, chemical cleaning, recolouring, and leather welding can all repair these problems, particularly when the damage is quite large.

An at home remedy for simple scratches and marks is to apply a small amount of white vinegar to make the mark swell and then apply a shoe polish that matches the colour of the leather.

Often these types of scratches are caused by your pets, as a simple rule, make sure that your leather furniture is protected if you are going to let you animals on it.

Broken Stitching

If your leather furniture has torn seams or broken stitching, this damage will need to be repaired through manual stitching or machine sewing.

Cracks

If your leather has begun to crack it needs to be handled by a leather repair specialist as cleaning and recolouring is required to uncrack the leather. This will leave your leather furniture with a uniform appearance by making the cracks less visible.

Tears and Rips

Although leather is fairly resistant to tearing and ripping, it is not completely resistant to these damages. Professional leather welding, upholstering, and other methods can be used to repair a rip, tear, burn, or cut in any area of your furniture.

Fading and Discolouration

Some leathers like aniline are prone to fading from direct exposure to sunlight. It is not a pretty sight when one side of your furniture is a different colour to the other. If leather fading is your problem, do not stress. Leather dye can be used to bring back uniformity in colour. Before dying your furniture, it is important that you check that the dye type is suited for your type of leather. For example, if you have aniline leather, you need to use aniline dye.

For more information on the best course of action to repair your leather damage, call AllAces Cleaning & Restoration on 1800 00 1010.