Leather
Cleaning
Is you leather looking less than lustrous?
Leather chairs are a fabulous feature for any room. Our extensive training, coupled with the considerable amount of experience we have gathered over the years from leather cleaning in Stockport, Preston and across the North West, allows you the confidence to trust us completely with your leather cleaning needs.
Although we deal with each job in a bespoke manner, here is a multi-step breakdown of the process our leather cleaning tends to entail:
Step 1
Assess
To begin, we determine which of the four main leather-related families your upholstery belongs to; pigmented leather, faux leather, analine or suede/nubuck. We also assess the level of soiling or staining we are dealing with.
Step 2
Pre-clean
Next, we rid the entire material of any loose dirt with rigorous vacuuming, ensuring every last crevice is reached (we often discover all sorts of long-lost items in the process!). Following this we apply a preliminary cleaning solution, serving to remove any remaining dry substances as well as oils from the upholstery. It is important for us to be diligent here so that when the time comes to carry out the deep clean, we are not persistently tackling any on-the-surface particles. The more gentle and progressive the approach is from the start, the lesser the risk of requiring a more ‘aggressive’ clean later on.
Step 3
Deep clean
Now we arrive at the deep clean stage. We massage a specialist foaming agent into the leather, paying particular attention to all body contact areas, as these vicinities tend to suffer from hair and skin oils the most. The material as a whole, along with any marked areas (ink transferred from newspapers is a common one, as well as stains from general spills), is treated with a gentle solution to begin with. Depending on how severely the dirt is engrained, we work our way up the scale to stronger agents. We stock many treatments of varying strengths and employ the appropriate method for your specific circumstance according to the build-up of dirt and dyes in your leather. We are careful, throughout the process, not to damage the material. When absolutely necessary, we will adopt our most ‘aggressive’ methods of cleaning; what we call an ultra-deep clean, or, when dealing with the severest degree of filth, an alcohol-based clean. The art here is to clean as intensely as possible without stripping the pigment out of the fabric.
Step 4
Colour repair
In instances where inks and dyes have soaked into the leather beyond the reaches of the cleaning agent, it is necessary for us to deliberately strip back the pigments and subsequently re-build them. This procedure is also required when scratches (often from pesky pets!), ‘cracking’ and wear occurs as a result of the material being poorly maintained.
Step 5
Protect
Finally, we apply a professional protective treatment serving to guard the surface of the leather post-clean. This builds a resilient barrier upon the skin and creates a first line of defence against potential spills and general dirt, resulting in a leather that’s harder-wearing and altogether more durable.
Don’t be fooled into thinking that leather cleaning is less of a priority than fabric cleaning. Leather is a skin. When peering at it under a microscope, you can see pores and hair follicles. It is therefore pitted, allowing for dirt to become easily lodged within it.
It isn’t the case that fabric upholstery is absorbent whilst leather is not. Solvent-based substances in particular, such as inks, are very quickly absorbed into leather. It is in no way bulletproof, and anti-stain protection plays a key role in taking the best care possible of your leather post-clean (which is why we involve it as part and parcel of the cleaning process for you).
Don’t be fooled into thinking that leather cleaning is less of a priority than fabric cleaning. Leather is a skin. When peering at it under a microscope, you can see pores and hair follicles. It is therefore pitted, allowing for dirt to become easily lodged within it.
It isn’t the case that fabric upholstery is absorbent whilst leather is not. Solvent-based substances in particular, such as inks, are very quickly absorbed into leather. It is in no way bulletproof, and anti-stain protection plays a key role in taking the best care possible of your leather post-clean (which is why we involve it as part and parcel of the cleaning process for you).
Just one final note…
DO
DON’T
Use baby wipes. You may get away with using them a handful of times, but they will eventually strip the lacquer coating from the leather.
