Maintaining your luxury leather upholstery’s beautiful look and feel is important to you, and to us, so we thought we would devote this post to recommending a few simple steps to help you keep your furniture looking fresh.
The simple maintenance of all leathers furniture includes vacuuming the surfaces with a brush attachment or dusting it with a clean, dry cloth. It’s crucial to avoid harsh substances. Use distilled water on a soft cloth to wet-wipe but stay away from liquid cleaners that have ammonia or alkalis because these can damage leather. Also avoid detergents, oils, saddle soap, furniture polishes and abrasive substances.
Dealing with Soiled Leather
If leather is soiled, it can be wiped with a soft, damp cloth using a lather of any mild soap made for skin, such as Dove or Neutrogena, with lukewarm water. There are leather cleaners that are designed for upholstered furniture, and we are happy to give you our top picks. We always recommend that you test any cleaning solution on an area of upholstery that isn’t visible.
Do not spot-clean leather; clean the entire surface. We recommend that you add the non-detergent soap you’ve chosen to distilled water to create your cleaning solution. The tried-and-true formula is one-part soap to eight-parts water. Using a microfiber cloth moistened with the solution, test an inconspicuous spot to ensure there is no discoloration of the leather. Wipe the furniture from top to bottom. To rinse, dampen another cloth with plain distilled water and go over the piece again. To dry, wipe the piece clean with a clean, dry, soft cloth.
For spots and spills, wipe away any excess liquid immediately with a clean cloth or sponge and let the leather air dry. If further cleaning is necessary, use a sponge dampened with lukewarm water to wipe the entire surface—seat, back and arm. Let the leather air dry; never use a hair dryer or other heat source to dry leather. If you are in doubt about how to approach cleaning one of our pieces of furniture, reach out to our customer care team for clear instructions on addressing any situation. For instance, body oil or butter should be blotted with a clean, dry white cloth. It’s important not to use water to clean an oil-based stain.
Should I Condition My Leather?
There are commercial leather conditioners you can use every six to twelve months to help your leather maintain its natural oils, and keep each piece of furniture soft and supple. We can certainly recommend which ones to use on our leathers, as we urge you to avoid any of these products that contain silicone or wax, which bring a permanently, sticky feel to the surface of the leather.
Different types of leather—such as North American Bison leather, Nubuk and top-grain cowhide—demand different cleaning requirements, and we will always provide you with the appropriate care and cleaning instructions for your leather selection. You can also find general care information in the leather product page on our website.
No matter the type, one of the best ways to keep your leather furniture looking beautiful is to keep it away from direct sunlight and heat sources, as these can cause drying and cracking. We hope this primer on taking care of your fine leather has been helpful. If there is a question we haven’t answered, our customer care team is at the ready to help you, so give us a call.