Leather sofas add a touch of elegance to your home decor.
Cleaning and maintaining these luxurious sofas, however, is a tricky task as
you cannot just wipe them down with a wet cloth.
Steps for Cleaning
- Vacuum clean the sofa with a soft brush attachment.
Make sure it sucks the dirt out of all the crevices otherwise the
dust and grime could be rubbed into the sofa when you wipe it with the
cleaning solution.
Dust particles are abrasive in nature. Hence, they can damage the material
when they come in contact with moisture.
- Create a cleaning solution by mixing equal parts of
water and white vinegar. Alternatively, you can mix a few drops of
commercial leather cleaner in water.
- Dip a soft cloth (preferably a microfiber cloth) in
this solution and wring it out so that the cloth is damp, not completely
wet.
- Wipe the entire sofa with this cloth while rinsing the
cloth in the cleaning solution when necessary. It is best to start
cleaning from the top and work your way down.
- Dry the sofa with a clean towel. Do not use a blow
dryer for this purpose as it is likely to dehydrate the leather.
- For conditioning, mix one part of white vinegar and two
parts of linseed oil or flax seed oil. Using a soft, clean cloth, apply
this mixture on the sofa in broad, circular motions. Leave on overnight.
- Next day, buff the sofa with a clean rag to restore its
shine.
Dust particles are abrasive in nature. Hence, they can damage the material when they come in contact with moisture.
Apart from the vinegar solution, you
can clean your leather sofa with a moisturizing soap (such as Dove) and water
(bring it to lather and then wipe). Test the cleaning solution on an
inconspicuous spot before using it on the entire sofa.
Some even suggest cleaning leather
furniture with saddle soap. On the downside, it is believed that repeated use
of saddle soap tends to dissolve leather over a period of time.