Water damaged leather sofa.

[Mr. Belnap]

I have been asked to clean a water damaged leather sofa. It's a medium brown and has watermarks on the cushions and body. I have never cleaned leather and need good advice e on how to proceed. Thanks!!!

 

[Shorty]

What type of leather??

Aniline, Semi Aniline, Pigmented/Protected, Wax Pull-up, Oil Pull-up, PU/Bicast, etc; ???

Is it mold affected ??

If so, how will you kill the mold & remove the staining. ??

If you don't know, don't touch it.

Get a leather specialist to do the job unless you really need a water damaged leather lounge.

Get specialist leather training BEFORE attempting to clean ANY leather.

 

[Jim Pemberton]

So you may not know "all the players" here, you might think that comments like Shorty's are a cleaner showing some professional jealousy, or protecting his "turf" (though you can probably guess he won't travel from Australia to Utah to do this job)

This isn't the case with leather.

Post a pic if you like, but if the leather absorbed water enough to show water damage, its likely one of the troublemakers that Shorty listed above, and you don't want to have a home like I had when I was young....

....decorated in "early screw up"

 

[J Scott W]

I do have a basic leather cleaning guide that will help you identify the most common types of leather used for upholstery. Send me an email and ask for it if you want a free copy - scottw@bridgewatercorp.net

But as suggested above, water damage complicates the problem. If you are near SLC, you may want to contact Paul Kelly of Blue Diamond. He is the best leather guy I know of in this area.

 

[Old Coastie]

And sign up for Jim Pemberton's emailed upholstery cleaning tips.
Welcome aboard.

 

[SamIam]

I've been cleaning forever used chemspec leather Cleaning before, and to this day I say skip!

I won't do them any more ever